Ghosts That We Knew
by WrappedInARiddle
Summary: Six months ago Lucas Scott was convicted of murdering his wife Lindsey. Her younger sister Brooke stumbles upon some evidence that might prove that Lindsey Davis-Scott is alive and Lucas his innocent. Will Brooke be able to help Lucas get his conviction overturned or will he spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit? AU story. BL endgame. Epilogue ADDED!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** So as some of you know I was getting feedback about keeping Love Behind Bars a BRULIAN fic or rewriting it and making it BRUCAS. Well after reading all of your feedback (thank you again, by the way) I have to decided to do some edits and keep it BRULIAN. So for all you BRUCAS fans I'm working on two stories in it's place. This one ( **Ghosts That We Knew** ) and **Thinking of You**. Both are BRUCAS endgame. So enjoy. :-)

 **Summary:** Six months ago Lucas Scott was convicted of murdering his wife Lindsey. Her younger sister Brooke stumbles upon some evidence that might prove Lucas couldn't have possibly killed her because Lindsey Davis Scott is alive and well. Will Brooke be able to help Lucas get his conviction overturned or will he spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit.. AU Story with OTH characters.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything OTH, I own this story though. ;-)

* * *

 _ **Ghosts That We Knew**_

"Miss Davis, can you tell us about your sister's relationship with the defendant Mr. Scott?" The prosecutor Marvin McFadden asked.

"Lucas and my sister were married." Brooke said, unable to break eye contact. She knew if she looked at Lucas she might jump out of witness box and strangle him with the chains he was shackled to.

Marvin continued, "How long were they married before your sister's disappearance?"

"A little over three years." Brooke said.

"Did you sister ever mention any marital problems?" Marvin paced the courtroom galley.

Brooke blinked back tears, "She told me a few months before she disappeared that she was having an affair with their garden Nick Chavez."

Lucas's attorney Jimmy Edwards stood up, "Objection your honor, hearsay."

Marvin and Jimmy approached the judge's bench, "Your honor," Marvin spoke, "Brooke and Lindsey Davis were incredibly close growing up. With that being said, it is the opinion of the state that this testimony be admissible. Nick Chavez already testified to his relationship with the deceased."

The judge ruled, "Step back gentleman, I'll allow it. Objection overruled."

Brooke's eyes met Lucas's. She could see the pain behind his familiar blue eyes, Marvin stepped in her immediate line of vision. "Miss Davis after your sister told you about the affair she was engaged in with Mr. Chavez did you notice a difference in Lucas Scott's demeanor?"

Jimmy stood up again, this time before Brooke could answer, "Objection your honor, Miss Davis is not a behaviorist, that question calls for speculation."

The judge turned to Marvin, "Mr. McFadden?"

Marvin buttoned his jacket, "Your honor Miss Davis has known Mr. Scott her entire life we feel that qualifies her as an expert witness on Mr. Scott's overall demeanor after Lindsey revealed her affair."

The judge nodded, "I'll allow it Mr. McFadden but tread lightly."

Brooke felt Lucas's eyes on her again, she looked over in his direction on saw him whispering into the ear of the second chair attorney. Marvin once again stepped into Brooke's line of site. "Miss Davis, do you need me to repeat the question?"

Brooke shook her head, "No. I noticed Lucas drinking heavily a few days after Lindsey told me about Nick. She told me that she thought Lucas's knew about her indiscretion. When I saw them a month later Lucas was disheveled and picked a fight with his brother at his nephew's birthday party."

Marvin walked back to the prosecutor's table closest to the jury, "How long was it after your sister told you about her affair that she went missing?"

Brooke felt fresh tears stream down her face, "Two months later, we were supposed to meet for a 6am spin class and she never showed up."

Marvin grabbed a clear exhibit bag, containing a cellular phone, from the table, "Miss Davis did you contact the defendant when you couldn't reach your sister?"

"Yes, I left him a voice mail." Brooke knew what was coming next, she held her breath as she listened for the next question.

"You're honor we would like to submit into evidence the message Mr. Scott left on Miss Davis's voice mail twelve hours after her sister's disappearance." Marvin brought the evidence bag to the judge's box.

"So submitted, now known as People's number 71." The judge wrote on the bag and handed the bag to the court reporter.

Marvin queued up the recording on the cassette player sitting on the small table in front of the witness box where Brooke was sitting. He pressed play: _Brooke you tell that slut sister of yours that I've spoken to my attorneys and I need to know where to send the divorce papers. Very funny pretending she's missing, did you check with Nick, (audible laugh). She didn't think I knew about that, oh but I did. Brooke you explain to that bitch that if I don't hear from her soon there will be consequences._ "Miss Davis, do you recognize the voice on the recording?"

Brooke felt her skin grow hot, all she could think about was Lindsey, "Yes." She almost whispered into the microphone in front of her.

"And who's voice is it Miss Davis?" Marvin asked, trying to engage her to look at him.

"It was Lucas Scott," Brooke choked.

Marvin went back to his table, "Miss Davis, just one more question. When was the last time you saw your sister?"

Brooke let out the breath she was still trying to hold in. Her chest now throbbing in pain, "At the coroners office. Three months after her disappearance a partially decomposed body washed ashore in Balboa Harbor." She looked at Lucas, "I was tasked with identifying her body."

Marvin followed up, "Were you able to identify your sister Lindsey Davis-Scott's body that day?"

"No, the coroner said her body had been in the harbor too long. I had to provide a DNA sample and a copy of Lindsey's dental records." Brooke broke down and began to sob.

Lucas had been doing everything he could to keep himself together watching Brooke cry over the loss of her sister was too much for him, "Brooke you know me, you know I didn't do this."

The judge clanged her gavel, "Mr. Edwards silence your client or I'll be forced to hold him in content of court."

Lucas continued to stare at Brooke, ignoring the judge's words, "I loved Lindsey, you know that. I'm innocent! I'm innocent Brooke!"

The judge banged her gavel down harder, "Enough Mr. Scott, bailiff get him out of my courtroom."

The bailiff grabbed Lucas and started dragging him outside, "Brooke! Brooke look at me god dammit! You know me! You know me!"

* * *

 _*Six Months Later*_

"You're really going to that creepy house alone?" Rachel said into the receiver.

Brooke pulled into the driveway, "I don't have a choice. The police finally signed off on me entering the premises. I called Karen and she asked if I would just pack up anything of Lucas's that I thought she would want."

Rachel let out an uncomfortable laugh, "You are a better person than I would ever be. You called the mother of the man that was convicted of murdering your only sister and asked if she wanted you to box up his stuff."

"It isn't like that Rachel and you know it. Our families were close, it's complicated." Brooke took the keys out of the ignition and opened the drivers side door. "I need to gather up all the personal effects before the movers come and remove the furniture. The Realtor wants to have an open house in 3 weeks. We're going with way below market, so it should sell quickly."

"Not if he murdered Lindsey there," Rachel said, "Jesus, Brooke I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

Brooke frowned and got out of the car, "It's alright Rach, I know you can't help yourself sometimes. I need to go though, I'm not sure if the electricity is still on and I don't want to be here after dark."

"Why didn't you just call Chase, I'm sure he would have come over and helped you?" Rachel volunteered.

Brooke scoffed, heading up towards the house, "Yeah, let me call the guy I just started dating and tell him to come with me to the murder house. It's incredible he didn't take off for the hills as soon as he found out who I was."

"There's something about this one, I think he's special." Rachel made kiss noises.

Brooke put the keys into the front door, "I need to go Rach, I'll talk to you when I get home."

* * *

Two hours later Brooke picked up her phone and called Nathan, Lucas's younger brother. He picked up on the second ring, "What can I do for you Davis?"

"I packed up all of Luke's stuff, your mother said she wanted it. Do you mind coming by and collecting the boxes for her. They aren't going to fit in my mini cooper and I know my dad isn't going to want to bring them over." Brooke closed her eyes and crossed her fingers, 'please say yes' she willed.

"Alright, I'll be right there." Nathan said hanging up the phone.

Brooke sat down on the porch with a box of family pictures and waited for Nathan. She would never admit this out loud but she missed the Scott family. She missed Karen and Keith, they had always been like her unofficial set of parents. "That happens when you live next door to people from the time you're three." She said aloud, she missed Nathan and Haley. Her and Nathan had gone to school together since preschool. She met Haley in the third grade and they were inseparable till Nathan developed feelings for Haley. Then Brooke became the third wheel. She smiled at the thought, she missed Jamie, her god son. She looked at some other pictures when she reached a stack of letters written in what appeared to be Portuguese.

* * *

 _*Flashback*_

"Linds," Brooke called out, her sister came out of the room wearing a small string bikini, "I found your letters, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," She narrowed her eyes at her sister. She stood and looked at herself in the full length mirror, "Chris and I are just friends."

"Does your fiance know you still talk to Chris Keller?" Brooke folded her arms across her chest.

"Jesus, Brooke don't be such a buzz kill," Lindsey retied her bikini top, "I know you've had a hard on for Lucas since we were kids but I am your sister. You should try looking out for me for a change."

"I don't like Lucas, I just think you shouldn't marry him if you and Chris are still seeing each other." Brooke sighed and headed to her dresser and found the swim suit she was planning on wearing.

"It's only been a few letters, it's nothing serious." Lindsey kinked her eyebrow and hissed, "He's down in South America now, so just drop it." Brooke shook her head, Lindsey grabbed her arm, "Fine suit yourself tell Lucas, he won't believe you anyway."

 _*End Flashback*_

* * *

"Brooke?" Nathan said again.

Brooke looked up and wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry Nathan I don't know where I was just now." Brooke stuffed the letters back into the box.

"Probably wondering how we all fucking got here," He sat down on the footstool in front of her. "I get it, I've been asking myself why I didn't see it? Luke was always so buttoned up and put together, I should have noticed him spiraling out of control."

Brooke put her hand on Nathan's, "It's not your fault," Brooke's mind wouldn't leave those letters so she told herself to wrap this up quickly. "None of us saw this being the end result, I didn't think they'd stay together forever but I never thought..." she stopped herself.

"My brother would murder your sister." Nathan patted her hand and stood up, he scanned the covered porch, "What are you doing, auditioning for sainthood? Why would you agree to do this and by yourself no less. You should have called Haley and I would have..."

"No you wouldn't have," Brooke interrupted, "I used to see you guys all the time, I've hardly seen you since Luke got sentenced."

"Can you blame me Davis?" Nathan huffed, "All the legal analysts said your testimony cemented Luke's fate. I was mad and I couldn't take it out on him. He needed me, still does." Nathan stacked three boxes on top of each other, "You know they've had to keep him in solitary confinement because they received several credible threats on his life."

Brooke put her heads in her hands, 'come on Nathan I need to finish looking at these letters,' she said to herself before responding, "Doesn't that happen whenever there's a high profile prisoner locked up?"

Nathan walked the boxes to his truck that was parked behind Brooke's car, "Who knows Davis, I know he's attracted all kinds of prison groupies. Lucas Scott ex NBA star sent away for life for popping his old lady I guess is a turn on for some women."

Brooke grabbed a box and headed to the truck, "I was thinking about going to see him, do you think he would see me?"

Nathan laughed, "I doubt it." He pushed another two boxes into the truck and engaged the tailgate. "Thank you again for doing this, you're one tough chick Davis, I don't think I've told you that lately." He pulled her in for a hug, "It's time for us to start healing as a family," he kissed her forehead, "what do you say? You feel like coming over this weekend? Jamie misses you."

Brooke wasn't sure if it was Nathan's words or Lindsey's letters that got to her but she started to sob into his chest, "You have no idea what that means to me right now Nathan."

"Shhhh..." Nathan rubbed her back, "Let me help you put the rest of this shit in the garage. Then I'm going to follow you home."

"Alright," Brooke said wiping her tears. She turned towards the house, "I've been here for several hours and I didn't cry once, you've been here fifteen minutes and I'm sobbing like an idiot." She pinched him, "Thanks hot shot."

* * *

Brooke sat at her kitchen table staring at the stack of letters and a glass of untouched red wine. She was confused by what she found written in the letters. "Are these what set Lucas off?" she wondered aloud, "No I found these in Lindsey's super secret hiding spot," she reasoned, "there's no way Lucas found them." She spun one of the envelopes in her hand, it was postmarked eleven months ago. "The date was a week before Lindsey disappeared."

She heard the door open and Chase came in. "Hi Brooke," he said with a smile. He put down his motorcycle helmet then sat down in the chair across from her. "What is all this?"

"Lindsey," Brooke groaned, she looked at him and smiled at his appearance, he was still wearing his hospital scrubs. "Would you like something to eat, I can heat something up for you?"

Chase took a sip of the wine, "that's good." He stood up, "I'll get something in a minute. So how was it today?"

Brooke pondered, "It was productive, I think I'll need to go over there for a few hours tomorrow but that's it. How was your shift?"

"Long, thanks for letting me crash here while I'm on this rotation. The bed in your spare room is a lot better than the cots at the hospital." Chase grabbed the wine glass and took another gulp before heading into the kitchen, "I could go with you tomorrow if you want? I don't have a shift I'm just on call, I don't mind."

"Thanks," Brooke said with a smile, "But I think it would be weird, it's almost too much for me. No need to inflict that stuff on you. Do you still want me to go with you apartment hunting?"

"Yes, does that cut into what you need to do at the house?" He asked as he pressed a series of buttons on the microwave. "If so we can go next week."

Brooke shook her head, "Tomorrow is fine." She stopped spinning the letter, "When you were in South America with Doctors Without Borders did you go anywhere that spoke Portuguese?"

"Sim," Chase replied with a smile.

"Does that mean yes?" Brooke questioned.

Chase nodded, "Why the sudden interest in Portuguese?"

"No interest really, I was just wondering about something written on this sheet of paper." Brooke shrugged, "according to the date on the postmark Lindsey would have gotten it less than a week before she disappeared. There was a few sentences written in Portuguese and nothing else."

Chase sat next to her, "Well give it here if you want it translated." Brooke handed him the little piece of paper. "Até que eu estou com você de novo do meu coração. Eu permaneço para sempre seu," he recited. "Till I am with you again my heart, I remain forever yours." Chase sat back in his chair, confusion registering on his face, "Is that something Lucas wrote to her? Why would he know Portuguese, when was he in Brazil?"

Brooke started to feel tears forming in her eyes, "Luke doesn't speak Portuguese, he wasn't in Brazil."

The confusion continued, "I don't understand, who is this from then?"

Brooke let out a deep breath, "Lindsey's old boyfriend Chris Keller."

* * *

So... Thoughts? I know I have a lot of stories going on right now. Starting another one is probably not the greatest idea I ever came up with, but writing is so much fun. I promise to keep up with them all. :)

Review, review, review!

Thanks!

-Krystal


	2. Chapter 2

Hi my lovelies! I want to give a quick shout out to all the people that reviewed this story (beautifulgirl99, GG, shakeyshay69, dianehermans, brucas, sandygirl & guest) you guys are awesome. Also thanks for all the follows and favs.

So without further ado I give you chapter 2. ;)

* * *

Chapter 2:

 ** _*Dream Sequence*_**

"Brooke I think I'm pregnant," Lindsey said, fidgeting in her seat.

Brooke put down her pencil and took off her glasses, "What do you mean you think you're pregnant?" Lindsey handed her a pregnancy test, "That's disgusting Linds," Brooke said before immediately getting some hand sanitizer out of her top desk drawer and applying a liberal amount to her hands. "That test is positive, it means you're pregnant."

Lindsey sat down on her sister's bed, "I know," she tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear, "I don't know what to do I'm kind of freaking out."

Brooke looked at her calendar, "Who's baby is it? It can't be Lucas's he just got back from being gone all summer at High Flyers camp."

"Can you just for one second pretend that you actually care about me?" Lindsey glared, "You know your SISTER, your ONLY sister." Lindsey threw herself down on Brooke's bed, "This isn't about Luke," Lindsey sulked, "Does it really matter who's baby it is, I'm not keeping it obviously. I can't be pregnant, I just started my senior year of high school, there's no way the principal would let me still be cheer captain, what kind of message would that send, I'll tell you Brookey it would be a negative one." Lindsey put her head in her hands, "What am I going to do?"

"I can't believe you cheated on Luke again." Brooke huffed, "Who was it this time? I'm not covering for you anymore." Brooke watched Lindsey rub her hand behind her ear, 'that's the nervous tell she's done for years whenever she doesn't want me to know the truth.' Brooke told herself, "I'm not helping you unless you tell me who the father is."

"Fine! Lucas said we needed to take a break while he was gone this summer, I agreed." Lindsey started, still touching her ear, "I met this guy, a musician, his name is Chris. He was visiting his uncle for the summer. We got really involved really fast," Lindsey grabbed one of Brooke's pillows and pulled it to her chest, "He ended things when he went back to Brazil."

Brooke was confused, "What's in Brazil?"

"His parents have a hotel there and his mother runs a school, they're like missionaries or something. What difference does it make?" Lindsey pouted, "I think I love him and he's gone."

Brooke couldn't believe what she was hearing but decided the saga of Luke and Lindsey was a can of worms she didn't want to open. "Does this Chris Keller guy know about the baby?" Brooke wondered.

"Stop calling it that," Lindsey hissed, "It's a fetus, it's a parasite. That's all, I can't be pregnant Brookey. Lucas would murder me."

 ** _*End Dream Sequence*_**

* * *

Brooke woke up in a cold sweat, she sat up and looked at her alarm clock it was only 3:30am. She hadn't been able to sleep much that night. She keep thinking about the scrap of paper Chase translated. "It's nothing," she told herself. "Lindsey couldn't ever keep a secret, if she had faked her death to go live it up in South America I would know." She thought for a second about the tumultuous relationship that had been Chris and Lindsey. He was such a narcissist, he even referred to himself in the third person once when he was visiting. Brooke could never figure out what Lindsey saw in him, he spent summers with his uncle because when he wasn't in school he was terrorizing the local girls. Lindsey had fallen for him for some stupid reason or another. She drove her sister to the doctor's office that fateful afternoon in September when Lindsey 'took care of her parasite problem'. "It gave me nightmares for weeks," Brooke said out loud, "and the truly disturbing part was the very next day Lindsey pretended it never happened." Lucas and Lindsey got engaged right after graduation to the disbelief of both our families, especially because they were going to be spending most of the separated by the entire country. Lindsey staying in California, and went to the University of Irvine and Luke went to Duke in North Carolina. Chris had resurfaced not long after Luke left, his parents had bought his way into USC, he got kicked out after his freshman year. Brooke picked up the piece of paper and the envelope, she noticed that the postage amount seemed high for such a thin envelope. Brooke sat up in bed and looked through the stack of letters, "Nothing else goes with this one," She said, Brooke ran her hands through her hair and looked at the clock again it was only 3:56am, too early to call Nathan and Haley. Brooke got out of bed and got dressed, she went to her closet and found an old camping lantern and a flashlight. She left a note on the refrigerator for Chase and left her apartment. She needed answers and she needed them now.

* * *

Brooke pulled into the driveway of Lucas and Lindsey's house fifteen minutes later. She walked up to the house at a brisk pace, she unlocked the door and entered the house. She took out her phone and texted Rachel: _I'm at the murder house... Come over when you get this. Something is wrong, I don't think Lindsey is dead..._

Brooke took off her shoes and started stepping hard on the hardwood plank flooring, "Lindsey, you were always too predictable," Brooke said out loud, "If you were hiding something dammit I am going to find it." She jumped when her phone vibrated, she picked it up, "Hello?"

"Hey slut it's Rachel, what are you doing?" Rachel said sleepily into the receiver.

"Do you remember Chris Keller?" Brooke said as she continued stomping on the floors, "Him and Lindsey were still in contact before she disappeared. I found letters he sent to her, love letters Rach, they've been having an affair the entire time she was married to Luke."

Rachel sighed into the phone, "Brooke honey. I need you to stop everything you're doing and go back home." Brooke heard Rachel mumble, "This is my fault, I knew I shouldn't have let you go over there alone yesterday."

"Rach you aren't listening," Brooke heard a squeak, she stomped again... another squeak, "Come over here I can prove it to you." She hung up the phone and focused on the loose floorboard. Brooke took her keys and pried the board from the subfloor below. She pulled out a black grocery bag tied closed, she put the board back down and stepped on it hard to get it back where it belonged. She went in the dining room and started stomping again. She stopped when she heard knocking on the front door.

Rachel came inside, and hugged her friend, "I sent Nathan a text. You can't do this again."

Brooke handed Rachel the dirt covered bag, "I'm not crazy Rachel, I were I wouldn't have found anything. What is that then?"

Rachel sat the bag down on one of the tarp covered items of furniture. "Brooke come outside with me alright. Nathan and Haley will be here in a minute."

Rachel put her arm around Brooke's shoulder, "I'm not crazy dammit. Lindsey is alive," she picked up the bag Rachel had put down. She saw the headlights turning into the driveway. "I can't believe you called them," she spit. A few minutes later Nathan and Haley rushed inside.

Haley came up to Brooke and hugged her, "Hi tigger. I've missed you."

Nathan took the bag from her hands, "Come on Davis, let me take you home."

Brooke's cheeks flushed with anger, "Why won't any of you listen to me?" Brooke felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks, "I think I found proof my sister is alive," She pointed a finger in Nathan's face, "that would mean your brother is in prison for a crime he didn't commit." Brooke felt dizzy, "I need to sit down."

Nathan carried Brooke over to the couch, Haley removed the tarp, "Gattina will you see if the water is still on?" Nathan turned back to look at Brooke, he put one of his hands on her cheek, "This is my fault, I said some shit yesterday I shouldn't have. And I should have been the one to come over and pack up Luke's stuff. Seeing you like this makes me feel about two inches tall. Where's your inhaler?"

Brooke sat up, "It's in the car, I left my other one at home," Brooke took a deep breath and winced at the pain she now had in her chest. 'Stupid stress induced asthma,' she thought to herself.

Rachel came back with a glass of water and a wet wash cloth, "Here Brooke drink this." She folded up the wash cloth and put it on Brooke's neck. Rachel grabbed Brooke's car keys, "Is your inhaler in the glove box?"

Brooke nodded before taking a sip of water, "Can you at least humor me please and just tell me what's in the bag I found under the floor boards?"

Haley picked up the bag and brought it over to Nathan, "Hiding stuff under the floor, if it did belong to Lindsey it's was very Edgar Allen Poe of her."

Brooke started to sob, "Please Nate." Rachel came back inside and handed Brooke the inhaler. Nathan motioned for her to use the inhaler first. Brooke took two puffs and smiled, "Happy?"

"It's 4:30 in the morning and I'm not asleep," Nathan yawned, "I'm fan-fucking-tastic." He opened the bag and pulled out a broken porcelain doll, "Does this look familiar? It looks really old. If this belonged to Lindsey it's very macabre, why would she have kept it? It's probably something that's been there for decades."

Brooke became dizzy again, "But the letters, I found letters Nate."

Rachel folded her arms and huffed, "Lindsey was a slut Brooke. I know we aren't supposed to speak ill of the dead, but it's true, and those letters don't prove she's still alive Brooke. They just confirm what we already know, she was a tramp and she cheated on Lucas a lot." 'I would have killed her too,' Rachel thought best not to add that last part.

Haley sat down beside Brooke and gripped her tight, "You look exhausted, did you sleep at all?"

Brooke looked around at the three people who knew her better than she even knew herself, pain on their faces. She sighed, "I'm sorry you guys. I don't know what I was thinking, I guess there was some small part of me that hoped Lindsey could have pulled something like this off. I know she was a handful, but she was my handful. She was the only sibling I had. My life has been a mess since she died."

Haley rubbed Brooke's back, "Of course it has, your parents went a little crazy after the murder. You had to testify again Lucas, we all know how hard that was for you. We understand wishing she was alive somewhere living a secret life with that prick Chris Keller. They really wrote love letters to each other?" Haley shook her head, "How about I come over later and we can finish this up together? I'm sure I can get Karen to watch Jamie." Brooke nodded, "Now let's get you home. Nathan I'll drive Brooke's car, will you just follow us there and then we can drive home?"

Nathan stood up from his position on the floor, "Yeah Hales," he hugged Rachel, "Thank you for calling."

"Anytime," Rachel smiled.

Rachel handed Brooke's keys to Nathan, after he locked the house he said "Lindsey Davis was a lot of things Brooke but there is no way she was smart enough to pull off a switch like this. I think Rachel's onto something, maybe Lindsey was having a lot of affairs. But the true is she's gone, so we aren't ever going to figure out the truth, and the sooner we all accept that the sooner we can move on."

* * *

 ** _*Two Days Later*_**

Brooke heard the telephone ringing so she opened her front door as quickly as she could, she hurried inside and picked up the phone, "Hello." She said, a little out of breath.

"Nathan said you had an episode the other night." He sighed, "Are you alright?"

Brooke gasped at the voice on the other end of the line, "Luke, I... I... I'm fine. I wasn't sleeping." She paused and shut her eyes, "I cleaned out your house and I found some of Lindsey's stuff. I thought I was alright enough to handle that, I wasn't." She cleared her throat, "I packed up all of your belongings too, Nathan came and took them to your mothers..." She stopped when she realized she was rambling on about trophies and basketball. 'Luke doesn't care about that stuff,' Brooke scolded herself. "Are you aloud to talk to me, I testified at your trial?"

Lucas laughed, "You know I'm not entirely sure if this is okay or not," He let out a husky breath, "I had to check on you and make sure you were alright." He stammered, "I'm really sorry you had to be the one to clean out the house, that must have been tough, did you draw the short straw or something?"

Brooke wiped at the tears forming in her eyes, "No, my parents have been out of it since your sentencing. I didn't want your mother to have to do it, so I said I would take care of it."

Lucas exhaled, "Pretty girl, you can't carry everyone right now and you shouldn't have to. I really laid into Nate when he told me what happened. He's lucky I'm where I'm at or I would stab him."

Brooke laughed for a second, forgetting where Luke was, "I don't want to talk about that anymore," Brooke hesitated, she didn't know if she should say what she wanted to say, she went with her gut and spoke again, "I didn't think I was ever going to get to speak to you again Luke."

"I was surprised you took my call to be honest. I've been thinking about you since I spoke to Nate yesterday. I wanted to call you after we got off the phone, but that isn't how this place works." Lucas laughed. "I'm really just glad you're okay, I don't know what I would do if I lost you too Brooke."

"I found letters at your house Luke," Brooke blurted out.

Before Lucas could respond the automated message started playing, "This is a message from Corcoran State Prison, you have approximately three minutes left on your telephone call."

"You found letter huh," Lucas said, "From Chris Keller no doubt, how could I have been so blind..." He trailed off, "Enough of that though, you heard the Nazi's we only have three minutes left. I'm finding that time is a valuable commodity in prison, who would have thought? All I've got is time and there still never seems to be enough of it."

"I know this is going to sound strange Luke but I'm glad you called," Brooke smiled, "I miss you." Brooke shook her head thinking about how absurd she sounded, 'up until a few days ago you were certain he murdered your sister,' she told herself, 'but now...' she stopped herself before she went down another rabbit hole that required an intervention.

"I understand what you're saying," Lucas groaned, "I love you Brooke, I always have. Caring about you isn't something I can just turn off, I don't think I would even if I could. I was angry at you during the trial, I blamed you for putting me here. But I know now it isn't your fault, a jury of my peers thought there was enough evidence to support that I am the one that murdered Lindsey." After a brief silence he continued, "I am going to wrap this up though, I don't want us to get disconnected without saying goodbye. I need you to take better care of yourself Brooke, because if you don't I'm going to have to organize some sort of prisoner escape and I don't think I have enough cred to pull something like that off yet." Lucas laughed, "Promise me pretty girl."

"I promise broody," Brooke blinked away tears at the use of their old nicknames, "Goodbye Luke."

"Goodbye Brooke." Lucas said before the line went silent and all that was left was the dial tone.

* * *

So... Tell me what you think... I love hearing from all of you. :)

Review, review, review!

Thanks!

-Krystal


	3. Chapter 3

Hi my lovelies! Thank you for the great reviews (Miss Pretty Girl, beautifulgirl99, dianehermans, sandygirl, GG and the 2 guests). Keep it up, I love love love reading your reviews. Thanks for the follows and the favs. :)

Thanks!

-Krystal

* * *

Brooke looked at her calendar; it had been a week since she talked to Lucas. She kept willing him to call again, but so far she wasn't having any luck. When she wasn't thinking about Lucas her mind always drifted to Lindsey. At the insistence of her friends and family she had decided to table the _Gone Girl_ talk, 'Lindsey was dead right' she thought to herself before checking the time, she looked at her watch, "shit I'm going to be late meeting with the realtor." She grabbed her keys and headed over to the last house her sister would ever live in, 'if she really is dead,' she thought again. She pulled out of the driveway and thought about the last time she spoke to her sister…

 _"You're rubbing your ear Linds." Brooke said, feeling a little annoyed, "you come over here out of the blue and ask to crash here for a few days." Brooke put her hands on her hips, "you want my help, I need the truth."_

 _Lindsey instantly put her hand down, "I'm divorcing Lucas, I am filing papers tomorrow. You know Lucas, better than most; you know he's going to flip out. So I wanted to know if I could stay here a few days, you know until all of crazy blows over and we can move forward."_

 _"You're divorcing Luke because of the gardener?" Brooke sighed, "I wish I could say that I was surprised, but if we're being frank here you two had no business getting married in the first place. Have you EVER been faithful to him Lindsey?"_

 _Lindsey mocked, "This should make you happy, we both know you've been drooling over him since you were fifteen. Once I'm out of the picture you can just fill that void, like you've been trying to for years."_

 _Brooke shook her head, "Are you still harping about that, I already told you that isn't what happened. You are certifiable Linds I swear."_

 _"Please, you're my sister and I know Lucas." Lindsey crossed her arms; Brooke could see the swallow tattoo on her wrist, Lindsey had been pestering her to get matching sister tattoos and when Brooke finally caved they settled on swallows; she frowned and touched the swallow tattoo on her own wrist. "You think I'm the only one that hasn't been faithful?" She reached out for Brooke's hand, "I just wish you weren't so naïve Brookey, you aren't special to him, he would fuck a hole in a mattress if it felt good."_

 _Brooke could feel tears forming in her eyes, "Why are you so mean? I'm your sister, your only sister and you have been nasty to me for years. This doesn't have anything to do with Luke, or what you think happened between us. You want to file for divorce, put your big girl panties on and face the consequences of your actions. You can't stay here, I won't play mediator this time."_

 _Lindsey sulked, "Brookey, if I can't stay here I'll have to shack up with mom and dad. I'm 26 years old, if I moved back in with mom and dad that would be pathetic."_

 _Brooke didn't respond to her whining she knew if she did Lindsey would pick at her till she gave in, not today, "I think you should go Linds, I have a class."_

 _"Fine," Lindsey grabbed her purse and headed to the door, "Are we still on for spin in the morning? Maybe we can get breakfast afterwards, I miss you Brookey."_

 _Brooke followed Lindsey to the door, "Alright Linds, I'll see you in the morning."_

Brooke came out of the memory and realized she was about to pull into the driveway at Luke and Lindsey's house. She pulled in and got out of the car, she noticed the front door was open. She walked inside, "Hello?"

"Miss Davis," the man smiled extending his hand, "David Woods, nice to meet you."

Brooke smiled in return, David looked to be in his early 30's with raven colored hair and deep blue eyes, 'he looks like he could be Nathan and Lucas's older brother.' "You as well, have you been waiting long?"

"No Miss Davis, how about we do the walk-through and get this house sold for you?" He smiled again.

'Please can we,' she thought for herself, "Alrighty lead the way."

* * *

Brooke sat on the steps that lead to the front stoop and waited for the movers to come remove all of the furniture and bring it to the new storage unit she had just rented. Her mind kept wandering to Lindsey and that last conversation, Brooke took out her phone and googled _Chris Keller_. The first link that came up was for his parents' hotel. Brooke kept scrolling, she was a few links down when she saw a link to an Instagram account. Brooke clicked the site and started snooping, she didn't get very far before she found something alarming. Without even thinking she ran to her car and peeled out of the driveway. Fifteen minutes later she parked in front of Nathan and Haley's house.

She started pounding on the front door, a few moments later Haley answered, "Brooke, what is going on?"

"She's alive Hales!" Brooke screamed as she marched inside.

Nathan came jogging down the stairs, "Davis have you lost your mind? Jamie is upstairs asleep, what is the matter?"

"Lindsey's alive and I can prove it." Brooke said out of breath.

"Honey we already talked about this," Haley started in a calm voice, "how about a cup of tea?"

Brooke looked from Nathan and Haley and back again, "Okay, I'm sorry for screaming and I know I sound like a lunatic but I can prove it, please just let me show you."

Nathan looked at his watch, "Davis you have exactly three minutes before I call your parents. Lindsey is dead; I thought we agreed we were going to move on. What happened to moving forward?"

Brooke headed into their living room and grabbed the remote to Nathan's smart television and went to the google app. She googled _Chris Keller_ and went to his Instagram page, "Look, there is Chris Keller," she looked at Nathan and Haley and received no reaction; she scrolled down and clicked on the picture that had prompted her to drive over. It was a picture of Chris and a heavily pregnant woman on the beach, her bump exposed, the sunrise peeking through, Chris's lips were pressed to the bump.

"So this guy Keller knocked up someone," Nathan said, still not understanding where Brooke was going with this. He looked at his watch, "you have one more minute left."

"It's Lindsey," Brooke walked up to the big screen, "I know her face isn't exactly in the picture but look," she pointed to the hand rested on Chris's cheek, "there's the swallow tattoo."

"Circumstantial," Haley said squinting to really see the picture, "bird tattoos are really popular right now." She couldn't bring herself to say this out loud but the woman in the picture did sort of look like Lindsey, her hair and skin were darker, but she looked like the girl Haley had met when she was 8 years old.

"Alright," Brooke ran her hands through her hair, "What about that?"

Nathan looked at the big scar on the calf of the woman in the picture, "Didn't Lindsey have a giant scar on the calf of her right leg?"

"Yes," Brooke continued, "We were all together when it happened; Lindsey forgot the house keys and insisted she be the one to climb in the back bathroom window."

Nathan laughed, "I remember now, Luke and I said you should do it because you were smaller. Lindsey pushed you to the side and tried to fit herself in the window, she caught her leg on a nail or something right." Nathan grabbed Haley's hand and squeezed it.

"I don't seem so crazy now do I?" Brooke scolded, "One last thing, do you see her right arm, she's rubbing her ear. Lindsey does that whenever she's lying or she's nervous. Most of the time she doesn't even realize she's doing it."

Nathan took the remote from Brooke's hand and started scrolling through the other photos, 'the pregnant girl is showcased a lot' he thought, 'but why don't we ever see her face.' He clicked on another picture of Chris and the girl, it was a wedding photo, this time her face was obscured by Chris's face, but Nathan saw all he needed to see, "Look, it's the Davis dimple pattern," Nathan pointed to the girl's cheek and chin with the cluster of three specific dimples. I only know three people with dimples like that, you, your mother and your sister."

Haley brought her hand to her face, "Nathan what are we going to do?"

"I'm going to call Luke's attorney," Nathan stood up, "then I think we should go see Luke," he looked at Brooke, "all of us."

* * *

Brooke was in a fog the rest of the afternoon, she wasn't sure what to believe. She was sitting on her bed thinking about how she was going to prepare herself for seeing Luke in a few days. She heard the phone ring and she quickly picked it up. "Hello?"

"I need to speak to Brooke Davis," the voice paused, "This is Jimmy Edwards, Lucas Scott's attorney."

"Speaking," Brooke said.

"Miss Davis, I assume you know why I'm calling?" Jimmy began, "Nathan Scott came into my office and claimed to have evidence that your sister is still alive and living in Brazil. I told him that was preposterous, Lindsey Davis-Scott was dead and he should leave Lucas's appeal to me. I told him to go home, care for his family and consider the Davis family's feelings the next time he came down. Do you want to know what he told me next?" He paused rhetorically, "He said that the person that brought the information to him was you, the victim's very own sister."

"It was," Brooke took a deep breath, "I was cleaning out their house and I found letters that had belonged to my sister. Letters that came from Chris Keller, a man my sister had been involved with off and on for almost a decade."

"I know about Mr. Keller, his name came up in our preliminary searches into your sister's background when I took on Lucas's case. There isn't any evidence they were still in contact for six months prior to her disappearance." Jimmy said.

"I have hand written letters that came through the post office, can those be tracked?" Brooke wondered, biting her nails.

"You physically have these letters in your possession?"

"Yes." Brooke answered immediately.

"And where is it that you said you found them?" Jimmy quizzed, "Why didn't you contact me after you found the alleged correspondence?"

"I..." Brooke hesitated, "I didn't think anything of it at first, my sister had several extra marital affairs Mr. Edwards. Nathan, Haley and my friend Rachel convinced me that I was grasping at straws."

"Withholding evidence of a crime Miss Davis carries a hefty fine and in some cases jail time," Jimmy paused, "Fabricating evidence is even worse."

"I didn't withhold or fabricate anything Mr. Edwards." Brooke said a little aggressively. "Did Nathan show you the Instagram account?"

"Yes, I did see the similarities," Jimmy paused to talk to someone in his office, "I am sending a private investigator down to Brazil to check into your allegations. Are you currently at home Miss Davis?"

"I am," Brooke was confused, "How come?"

"I am coming over shortly with Prosecutor McFadden and a detective to collect the letters." Jimmy coughed, "I will also need to know who handled the letters and if they are available for finger printing."

"That's easy, I handled them." Brooke closed her eyes to visualize who else she had shown them to, "Oh and Chase, my... Chase, he handled one of them when I asked him to translate it. He's a doctor, he should be done with his shift at the hospital in about an hour."

"Alright Miss Davis, listen carefully I need you to take all of the letters and put them in a clear Ziploc bag, then write the time and date in sharpie marker, seal it shut, I don't want you to touch them again until I get there do you understand?"

Brooke nodded, "Yes Mr. Edwards I understand."

* * *

Brooke's phone rang after she finishing bagging up all of Lindsey's letters, "Hello," Brooke said out of breath.

"Both times I've called you, you have been out of breath," Lucas said on the other line, "What are you doing?"

"Luke," Brooke almost squealed. "Have you had a nice week?" Brooke shook her head when she realized she just asked someone in prison if they were having a good week.

"It's better now," Lucas said, "I talked to Nathan today, he said you guys are coming up to see me this weekend. Is that true?"

"Yes," Brooke gulped, "I have something to tell you."

"About Lindsey being a zombie?" Lucas asked, "I already know, Jimmy called me after Nathan left his office. So she might be alive huh?"

"A zombie?" Brooke gigged, "I don't want to get your hopes up but the pictures really looked like her." Brooke bit her lip.

Lucas sighed, "I'm going to kill her if she turns out to be alive. I mean if she wanted to go make a life with someone else all she had to do was file for divorce. We had already had conversations about it." He sighed louder this time, "I'm not going to think about it. So why are you coming with Nate to see me?"

"I miss you," Brooke blurted out.

"I miss you too pretty girl." Lucas laughed, "We need to talk, so it will be nice to see you, I never apologized for the almost kiss that landed you in the hospital. I'm sorry, I should have never taken advantage of you like that."

Brooke huffed, "You didn't take advantage of me Lucas Scott, Lindsey was out of town for work," 'knowing about all of these affairs though makes me wonder about all her work related travel,' Brooke thought, "we had been drinking. Besides it was an ALMOST kiss, nothing happened." The line was silent for a while, "Luke?"

"I wanted something to happen," Lucas whispered, "Then you pulled back, I freaked out and you started having an asthma attack and I had to take you to the hospital. I could have killed you Brooke, just thinking about it now, that burden would have been too much for me to bear."

"That's a little dramatic don't you think. It was my fault, I didn't have my rescue inhaler." Brooke's heart was pounding at the other admission. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted to kiss me? I have thought this entire time that you thought what almost transpired between us was a mistake."

"When would I have told you, it wasn't long after that that Lindsey disappeared, I wasn't really your favorite person after that." Lucas ran his hands through his hair, "We don't have much more time but I want you to know YOU were the reason my appearance changed, why I was drinking, why I picked a fight with Nathan. It didn't have anything to do with Lindsey... I had feelings for you and I was wrestling with what that meant. I mean falling in love with your wife's little sister, that's got tella novella written all over it."

Brooke's breath hitched in her throat, "You had feelings for me?"

"No," Lucas gulped, "Not had, have... I have feelings for you Brooke and your sister knew it."

* * *

So... That was chapter 3, I hope you all liked it. :) It was a lot of fun to write. Let me know what you're thinking and review, review, review.

Thanks again for reading!

Krystal


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update, I was getting my daughter ready for kindergarten, she starts next week. :) I want to give a shout out to all of you! (dianehermans, aschly, britt, brucas, takemewhenyougo, GG, sandygirl, thibbs65, miss pretty girl, loveojandbrucaslover) Thank you so much for the reviews. Without sounding like a cliche, you're the reason I write stories. Hearing from all of you brings me a lot of joy.

Thanks again!

Krystal

* * *

Chapter 4:

 _"When would I have told you, it wasn't long after that that Lindsey disappeared, I wasn't really your favorite person after that." Lucas ran his hands through his hair, "We don't have much more time but I want you to know YOU were the reason my appearance changed, why I was drinking, why I picked a fight with Nathan. It didn't have anything to do with Lindsey... I had feelings for you and I was wrestling with what that meant. I mean falling in love with your wife's little sister, that's got tella novella written all over it."_

 _Brooke's breath hitched in her throat, "You had feelings for me?"_

 _"No," Lucas gulped, "Not had, have... I have feelings for you Brooke and your sister knew it."_

"You have feelings for me?" Brooke choked.

"Yes pretty girl, I think deep down I've felt it for years, but I was with Lindsey and she always told me that you looked at me like a big brother. After your hospital stay I told Lindsey I was tired of the lies, she clearly didn't love me since she kept stepping out on our marriage and I couldn't shake the feelings I had for you. I told her I wanted a divorce, she freaked out and started crying, asked for a separation, said we could go on a holiday together and reconnect." Lucas sighed, "I felt like I owed Lindsey and our marriage one more try. On our way home from the hospital she asked me if you knew how I felt about you, I said no and we left it at that. The day before she disappeared I told her I wanted to go through with the divorce since nothing had changed and she agreed."

"Why didn't any of this come out during the trial?" Brooke asked.

"Jimmy thought it hurt my case, he said the jury would think I murdered my wife to run away with her sister. I couldn't put you or your parents through that." Lucas paused, "My time is almost up, I am looking forward to seeing you this weekend. I'll try and call again before Friday. Goodbye Brooke, I love you."

Brooke blurted out, "I love you too Luke," but all she heard was the dial tone.

* * *

A little while later Brooke heard a knock at the door, she went ahead and opened it, Rachel came rushing inside, "Is it true?"

"Hey Rach, how are you this lovely Tuesday evening." Brooke said sarcastically with a huge smile.

"I got off work and had like a million messages from Haley." Rachel kinked her eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest, "None from you though, thanks for the heads up bestie."

"It wasn't personal Rach," Brooke said before she sat down on the soft corduroy couch in her living room, "I've been in a haze since I left Nathan and Haley's. Lucas's attorney is on his way over to collect the letters I found." She sighed, "Did you go on the Instagram page?"

"Of course I did," Rachel sat next to her and grabbed her hand, "The girl in the pictures looks like Lindsey. So I have one final question." Brooke nodded, "When do we head to Rio to bust the bitch?"

Brooke cackled at Rachel's candor, "We don't. Mr. Edwards is sending one of his investigators down to follow them, get some pictures, then I guess we reassess." There was a knock at the door, "One second Rach."

Brooke opened the door, "Miss Davis? Do you remember me? I'm Detective Felix Taggario I handled your sister's disappearance and subsequent murder case," He flashed a badge, Brooke nodded and motioned for him to enter.

Before she shut the door, she saw Mr. McFadden and Mr. Edwards heading up the stairs. "Miss Davis," Mr. McFadden said as they entered her apartment.

"Should I leave?" Rachel asked, standing up.

"No Rach you're fine." Brooke sat back down next to her, "So how does this next part work?"

"Where is the evidence you collected at the deceased's residence?" Detective Taggario asked.

"On the kitchen table, I did exactly as I was instructed by Mr. Edwards," Brooke answered.

Marvin sat down on the couch next to Brooke, Brooke didn't take her eyes off Felix. She watched him bag up her already bagged letters. "Miss Davis?" Marvin said a second time.

"Yes," Brooke responded quickly.

"I would like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind." Marvin half smiled, and pressed record on his phone, "As you can imagine I was surprised to hear from Mr. Edwards office that there might be some new evidence in your sister's case that would exonerate Lucas Scott of any wrong doing. So I'll just begin with the facts first, falsifying evidence is a felony Brooke. If you understand this and would like to continue please say so."

"Before you say anything Brooke I want to remind you of your right to have an attorney present," Jimmy chimed in.

Brooke nodded, "Thank you, I didn't falsify any evidence Mr. McFadden." Brooke wiped away a tear on her cheek, "I was cleaning out Luke and Lindsey's house so neither set of parents had to do that. We all agreed we would like to move forward and selling that house was the first step."

"Were you alone when you found the letters in question?" Marvin asked.

"Yes, Nathan wasn't returning my calls and I told my best friend I didn't need any help." Brooke squeezed Rachel's hand.

Rachel nodded, "That's true, I joked I couldn't go over there with her and she said she was fine."

"Where did you find the letters?"

"From the time Lindsey and I were kids she hid things," Brooke paused, "there was a couple boxes of family photos and keepsakes in the closet. The letters were tucked inside one of the boxes."

"Why did they seem odd to you?" Marvin continued.

"The postage said they were from Brazil. The one on the top was dated a little over a week before Lindsey's disappearance."

"Did your sister know anyone in Brazil?" Marvin quizzed.

"Yes, an old flame, Chris Keller. He lives in Rio with his parents." Brooke looked up when the front door opened.

"Brooke?" Chase asked as he came inside, "What's going on?"

"Chase, my sister might be alive and living in South America somewhere. This is Detective Taggario, the prosecutor Mr. MdFadden and Luke's attorney Mr. Edwards." Brooke got up and hugged him, "He's the only person I showed the letters to, Mr. Edwards said you were going to need fingerprints from whomever came in contact with the letters while they were in my possession."

Detective Taggario interjected, "Would you be willing to submit a fingerprint card for comparison Mr.?"

"It's Dr actually," Chase said with a smile, "Dr. Adams and no I wouldn't mind. How do we do this?"

"Come with me into the kitchen please Dr. Adams."

"Brooke, let's continue." Marvin paused, "What happened after you got home?"

"I showed the letters to Chase, he speaks Portuguese, I asked him to translate a love note for me. Then we both went to bed, I was restless. I drove over to Luke and Lindsey's house to look for some answers. I didn't want to disturb anyone so I texted Rachel and a short while later Rachel, Nathan and Haley showed up and convinced me it was nothing. Then this morning I found the Instagram account and I saw my sister. Alive and well, living in Brazil with Chris Keller."

"Is there anything else Brooke?" Marvin scribbled some notes down on a small notepad.

"No, I went to Nathan and Haley's showed them the Instagram account, talked to Mr. Edwards this afternoon and now here we are."

"Mr. Edwards informed me that he sent an investigator, a Mr. Owen Morello, to check out the identity of the woman in the pictures." Marvin stood up, "The police are going to go through the letters you found, and if all the evidence holds water we will assess the situation then. Detective Taggario are you ready?"

Felix came out of the kitchen, "Miss Davis we still have your fingerprints on file so I guess we're all done here."

* * *

Brooke headed outside when she heard the horn, she locked the house and jogged over to the car, "Did you have to honk the horn? Chase is asleep inside."

Nathan backed out of the shared driveway, "If your boyfriend is living with you Davis, why are you driving four hours up north with us to see Luke?"

"Chase is only staying at my house while his apartment is being cleaned. He wanted to move closer to work and school and I didn't mind him being at the house. We aren't exactly together like that." Brooke trailed off.

"Wait a minute, you've been dating this guy for months. No action for the good doctor huh?"

"Stop it Nathan," Haley said from the passenger seat.

"I told you it isn't like that, I think we were dating and we sort of crossed into the friend zone." Brooke shrugged, "I'm coming with you because you said I had to and Luke wants to see me."

"If you aren't also coming for yourself I'll turn around right now and take you home." Nathan said glancing into the back seat, "But I guess since my brother is in love with you I have to bring you along."

Brooke's cheeks reddened, "He told you huh?"

"Please I've known about Luke's feelings for you since he even realized it I think," Nathan said while he pulled onto the freeway. "I've talked to him three times this week and each time he casually mentioned SEVERAL times that he hoped you were still coming."

"I was at work when he called the last two times, he doesn't think I'm avoiding him because of what he said does he?" Brooke asked as she picked at her nails.

"He knows the phone cut out after he told you he loved you." Nathan chuckled, "Then he was left hanging."

"So have you heard anything from Jimmy about his investigator?" Haley asked changing the subject.

Brooke shook her head, "No, but he said it could be a few weeks. I did hear from Mr. McFadden's office, the preliminary data they've collected from the letters support my story."

"If they had done their job checking that house for evidence of fowl play in the first place Luke probably wouldn't be in prison." Nathan huffed, "I was snooping on that page again, it's now private. You can only see the posts if you're a friend of Chris Keller." Nathan tapped on the steering wheel, "I can't believe Lindsey is in Brazil pretending nothing happened. She married that Keller guy and they're having a baby. I mean it's unreal. I know my brother can sometimes be a prick but nothing warrants that type of wrath."

"He told Lindsey he had feelings for me after I was in the hospital." Brooke admitted.

"Shit, really." Nathan gasped, "I know Lindsey was always competing with you, but faking her death and concocting some huge fake murder plot seems extreme right?"

"Not really," Haley laughed, "Remember when that girl Peyton Sawyer got voted Class President instead of Lindsey. A few weeks later there were pictures of her topless, going down on a football player all over campus. She ended up leaving school and moving away. The following week Lindsey was elected by default." Haley shook her head, "If we all thought about it I'm sure we could think of a few times Lindsey's competitive side came out and made her seem like a psychopath."

* * *

 _*Flashback*_

 _"Brookey," Lindsey said, strain in her voice, "Who is that firecrotch with Lucas?"_

 _Brooke looked up from her book and saw her friend Rachel touching Lucas's upper arms. They seemed to be enjoying each other's company, "That's Rachel. She's been my friend since like eighth grade. They're just friends."_

 _"They look really friendly." Lindsey glared._

 _Brooke closed her book and took off her glasses, "What's wrong Linds, you and Luke broke up I thought? What happened to that Chris guy?"_

 _"Chris went home to Brazil Brookey summer is almost over." Lindsey stood up, "We both know Lucas will come to his senses he always does. How old is that girl?"_

 _"She's in my grade," Brooke stared at her clearly jealous sister, "I'm not even sure why she showed up to the end of the year pool party. She can't swim."_

 _"Is that a fact," Lindsey said, "I'll be right back."_

 _Brooke watched Lindsey walk around the pool and insert herself into the conversation between Luke and Rachel. Brooke shook her head when she saw Lindsey pull Luke into a kiss and then smirk at Rachel. "Lindsey always looking out for number one." She said to herself. She picked her book back up and went back to reading._

 _A few minutes later Brooke heard a scream, "Help, I can't swim." Rachel spit out from the deep end of the pool. Brooke watched as Luke dove in and pulled Rachel into the shallow end, "Thank you Lucas." Rachel cried as she got out of the water. She sat down on Brooke's lounge chair._

 _Brooke handed Rachel a towel, "Are you alright?" Rachel nodded, wrapping the towel around herself. "What happened?"_

 _Before Rachel could answer, Lindsey came over to them and put her hands on her hips, "Rachel you should choose better footwear next time you come to a pool party. Hooker heals are practical for your line of work but they can be dangerous on slippery surfaces."_

 _When Lindsey left Brooke hugged Rachel, "She pushed me in B," Rachel whispered. "I'm sure she was just joking, I mean if she knew I couldn't swim that would have been really messed up right?"_

 _*End Flashback*_

* * *

"Wake up sleepy head, we're here." Nathan said from the driver's seat.

Brooke sat up, "Jesus how long was I out?"

"Nearly the entire drive, have you had trouble sleeping again?" Haley asked.

"No, I just must have been tired I guess," Brooke felt uneasy as she remembered her dream. 'Lindsey tried to hurt Rachel that day' she thought to herself, 'I'm sure of it.' She decided to shake it off for now and get out of the car, 'Today is about Luke, not Lindsey' "Let's do this."

* * *

"Alright," the officer said, "the inmates will come from those doors over there. For you first timers, your visit can be outside or inside if you prefer. Keep the physical contact to a minimum please, we don't want to cut anyone's visit short. If you chose to stay the entire time you'll here a bell ring at 4 pm when visiting time is up. You'll be allowed ten additional minutes for goodbyes at that point, and again I cannot stress this enough, if you don't obey the guidelines we went over you won't be allowed back for four visitor days." He closed his clipboard, "Enjoy your day everyone."

Brooke watched as the doors opened and she saw men in blue jeans and white shirts come out, she scanned the crowd for Luke, she spotted him and smiled. She wanted to go to him but she decided she would wait till Nathan got his hug first. Nathan waved Lucas over and smiled, "Hey big brother," he pulled Lucas in for a hug, they quickly let go, "how are you holding up?"

"I manage," Lucas smiled, he looked at Haley, "Hales," they hugged, "Thank you for coming." Brooke's heart was pounding out of her chest, Lucas looked at her next, "Hi pretty girl." He wasn't sure if he should hug her or not so he put his hand out for hers.

Brooke was confused by the gesture, 'Nathan and Haley got hugs' she thought, "Nice to see you broody." She shook his hand and sighed, "I drove all this way for a hand shake?"

"Hey I drove, you slept." Nathan laughed.

"I wasn't sure if you would want a hug or not," Lucas squinted into the sun. He was still holding her hand so he pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her, he smelled the familiar scent of cucumber melon in her hair. "Is this better?"

Brooke didn't want to pull away but she didn't want to get in trouble for too much physical contact, "Much."

Lucas moved some hair out of her face, "I honestly didn't think I was ever going to see you again. I'm so glad you're here pretty girl." He pressed his head to hers.

Nathan cleared his throat, "We were told to limit contact Luke."

"I know, they tell us too." Lucas stepped back and headed towards a picnic table in the corner of the yard. Before he reached the table he stopped walking dead in his tracks, "Fuck it if I get in trouble I get in trouble." He grabbed Brooke's wrist and pulled her to him again and kissed her hard.

* * *

So what did you all think? This story has been a lot of fun to write, it's a bit darker than most of the stuff I've written. Glad you ll seem to be enjoying it. :)

Do what I love and review, review, review!

Thanks!

-Krystal


	5. Chapter 5

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great week last week, sorry I didn't update much. My daughter started kindergarten and I was busy doing month end stuff at work. We are approaching the slow season so I'm hoping to be able to start updating twice a week starting next week... Thanks for your patience!

To all my reviewers (GG, thibbs95, sandygirl, Aschly, Britt, brucas, Diane and the few guests) you guys rock.

Thanks!

Krystal

* * *

Chapter 5:

 _Lucas moved some hair out of her face, "I honestly didn't think I was ever going to see you again. I'm so glad you're here pretty girl." He pressed his head to hers._

 _Nathan cleared his throat, "We were told to limit contact Luke."_

" _I know, they tell us too." Lucas stepped back and headed towards a picnic table in the corner of the yard. Before he reached the table he stopped walking dead in his tracks, "Fuck it if I get in trouble I get in trouble." He grabbed Brooke's wrist and pulled her to him again and kissed her hard._

Brooke couldn't help it as she let herself deepen the kiss and run her hands through Lucas's blonde hair. Kissing him felt like a dream, she always thought that if the day came when she could taste his lips on hers she would stop it from happening because of her sister. Thinking of Lindsey now made Brooke pull away. She rubbed her burning lips and looked around at the other inmates enjoying visitors day. She was relieved that no guard had noticed the kiss because she was sure that broke the rules. "So... How is it going?"

Lucas smiled and sat down at the wooden picnic table, "I'm great now," he ran his hands through his hair, thinking of Brooke's hands being there only moments before. "Have a seat guys, welcome to my home away from home."

Haley shook her head, "This will never be your home Luke." Haley wiped away a few tears that had escaped from her eyes without her realizing it and opened her purse. "I have some new pictures for you. I was told we were allowed to bring you some pictures so I thought you would like to see your family."

Lucas took the photos from Haley, "Jamie looks huge, what are you feeding him Hales?"

Haley shrugged, Nathan put his arm around his wife's shaking shoulder, "It's the age, they grow like weeds when they're little. He is starting pre-school in the fall if you can believe it."

Lucas smiled and shut his eyes, he opened them a few minutes later and looked at the rest of the pictures, "When was this one taken of mom? She looks very thin."

"She's still having a hard time with all of this Luke," Nathan said with a sigh, "Dad is too, we haven't told them about the possibility of Lindsey being alive. We all thought it was best, I don't want to get her hopes up you know."

Lucas nodded thinking of his parents Keith and Karen Scott. Lucas reached across the table and rubbed Brooke's hand, "What about Ted and Victoria? Do they know about Lindsey?"

"No, again we thought it would be best not to clue them in till we know anything concrete." Brooke smiled a sad smile, her parents had changed greatly since Lindsey's disappearance, every time she saw them now they were fighting. Her dad had confided in her a few weeks ago that they were no longer sharing a room, he slept in their bedroom and her mother was practically living in Lindsey's old room.

"I want to address the Lindsey elephant right now then I want to spend the rest of our visit talking about anything else. Lindsey always loved being the center of attention, if she could see us now she would love it, just knowing that we are talking about her." Lucas looked down at the carvings on the table top, "I'm not going to stop fighting to clear my name, either she's alive in Rio with Chris Keller or the body we buried almost 18 months ago was in fact hers. I'm tired of living my life on Lindsey's terms," he pulled Brooke's hand to his lips, "I want to move on, concentrate on my family, old and new." He looked at Nathan and Haley, "I love you guys, we always talked about raising our families together, the way I see it I'm behind." He smiled again, "I'm going to get out of here and when I do," he looked at Brooke, "I'm going to take you out on a proper date and if you'll have me I'm never going to let you go."

* * *

Before any of them realized it the bells rang out that visiting day was nearly over. Lucas hugged Nathan, "Keep taking care of everyone little brother. Love Haley and give Jamie a big kiss from his Uncle Luke alright." Nathan nodded, Haley was next on the hug line, "Take care of my brother Hales, you know when he's too concerned about everyone else his health suffers."

Haley wiped away a few more tears, "I will Luke, keep your head up. Hopefully we'll hear back from Mr. Edwards's guy soon. We miss you at family dinner."

Lucas groaned out, "I miss family dinners, the food in here isn't terrible but it might as well be slop in comparison to family dinner at the Scott house." Brooke was next, Lucas pulled her in for a hug and didn't want to let go, "Take care of yourself pretty girl, thank you for coming to see me, it means more to me than you'll ever know." He pulled away and put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her softly, "I love you, I know my timing is shit, it ALWAYS has been..." He kissed her again, "But please know that my feelings for you are genuine."

Brooke leaned into his chest, "I do. I love you too. Keep your chin up alright because when you get out of here I'm holding you to what you said. And I know just the place for our first date."

Lucas felt his whole body tingle at her words, he wasn't sure if she truly loved him yet on a romantic level, but he looked forward to one day hearing her utter those words and not having any doubts. He looked up and saw the other inmates going inside, "I better head in, they're very strict on visiting hours, besides I don't want anyone thinking I get special treatment." He waved to them one last time, "Drive safe Nate."

He turned and headed towards the double doors, "Wait!" Brooke called out. He turned around a second time, "Here," Brooke handed him a manila envelope, "This is for you, open it after we leave." She jogged back to Nathan and Haley and blew him a kiss. Lucas made a spectacle about "catching" the kiss and pressing it to his heart.

After the last of the inmates entered the mess hall they shut the big doors, "That girl you were kissing was hot Scott. Is she a prison groupie? Does she have a sister?" A fellow inmate asked him.

"She is gorgeous isn't she?" Lucas grinned, "Not a groupie and nope, she's an only child."

A guard came up to him, "Inmate Scott, your visitors left you a care package, it's been screened and deemed alright, go pick it up at intake before heading back to your cell before dinner hours."

Lucas nodded and headed to intake, he waited patiently in the line. 'She kissed me back,' he thought to himself, rubbing his lips, 'I wish I could see her everyday, today went by too fast,' he thought with a sigh. He got to the window, "I have a package, inmate Scott, inmate number 06042010."

The woman behind the glass smiled and said, "One moment please." She came back a few moments later, "Here you go," she placed the box in the glass box to her left, "After I close the drawer you can open it and remove your package."

Lucas headed back to his single cell, because he was considered "high profile" when he came here he was given a single bed cell for his own protection. He went through the open barred door and sat on his bed. He stared at his two packages and the pictures Haley had given him. He decided to open Brooke's package last, he opened the re-taped box and smiled. The box contained extra soap, disposable razors, a pack of six plastic picture frames, three pairs of socks and an assortment of snack food. At the bottom of the box he smiled, it was a gray cotton hoodie with the Keith Scott Automotive logo on the back. He brought it to his face and breathed in the delicate smell of orange fabric softener. "Thanks guys," he said aloud. He took the three pictures Haley had given him, put them in the new frames and placed them on the small metal desk at the back of his small cell. "Now let's see what Brooke brought us," he said to himself. He ripped open the manila envelope and gasped at the contents, he picked up the pictures. There was a picture of her with Rachel and Haley, one of her and her parents and a few of them together. He traced the lines of her smile on one of the last pictures, it was from a Halloween party four years ago. Lucas had gone as baseball player and Brooke was a 1950's pin up girl. In the photo Lucas was holding a baseball bat on his shoulder and Brooke had her hands linked on his elbow and had leaned into him and smiled. The picture had come out prefect, they almost looked like a couple in this photo Lucas thought. The last picture was a shot of Brooke in a bikini blowing a kiss to the camera. Lucas recognized it immediately it was the last picture he took of her before he was arrested. "Thank you Brooke," he said to the air in his cell, "Thank you so much."

* * *

*One Month Later-

Brooke propped the grocery bags on her hip as angled the rest of her body against the door and put the key in the lock of her front door. She entered her apartment and went to the kitchen, she screamed when she realized she wasn't alone. "Rachel Virginia Gatina! I could have killed you." Brooke huffed, "That key is for emergencies only."

"This is an emergency bitch I need to raid your closet." Rachel said as she took one of the bags from Brooke's arms. "I need a great first date look."

"Oh that's right tonight's the night isn't it?" Brooke smiled, "The big first date with Dr. Adams."

Rachel looked over at Brooke, "This is still alright with you right?"

"Yes, Chase is a great guy." Brooke laughed, "You NEED a great guy in your life. You date assholes usually."

Rachel grabbed Brooke's hand, "Are you sure this isn't too weird? Because I can cancel if it's too weird for you."

Brooke put her hands on Rachel's shoulders, "Rach it's wonderful. I'm fine with it, Chase and I were never serious, we barely kissed for crying out loud. I'm glad he called you, I told him that he should. Now let me finish putting this food away then we'll see what I have in my closet."

Rachel hugged her, "I'm nervous, I don't think I've ever been nervous about a date before. Why am I nervous?"

"Because you LIKE him obviously," Brooke turned when she heard the phone ring, "I need to get that it might be Luke."

Rachel started putting away the groceries and Brooke answered the phone, "Hello."

"Brooklyn Penelope Davis you are in deep trouble missy." Victoria Davis said into the receiver.

Brooke furrowed her brow, "Why am I in trouble now?"

"I just got served with exhumation papers, the district attorney wants to exhume Lindsey's body. When I called Mr. McFadden's office his assistant told me that they recently received evidence to support that my daughter might be alive and the body we buried might be a fake." Victoria paused to catch her breath, "Your father and I just went to his office and met with him to see how credible this supposed witness is and he informed us that YOU brought the evidence to their attention. So I'll say it again but you are in trouble young lady. I always knew that you had a thing for Lucas Scott, but to defend him after he brutally murdered your sister just takes this infatuation to a new level."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Lucas mom, it's about Lindsey. She's alive mom, the private investigator must have found something or they wouldn't want to dig up whatever unfortunate soul is buried in the family plot." Brooke pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm sorry you found out the way you did, I wanted to tell you mom but I didn't want to get your hopes up until we did some digging."

"Lindsey used to tell me about your obsession with Lucas, I just thought she was exaggerating." Victoria choked, "Now I've lost both my children."

Before Brooke could respond her mother hung up. Brooke placed the phone back on the cradle, "Rach," she called out.

Rachel came into the living room, "What is it B? Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'll be fine, the DA's office is going to exhume Lindsey's body for additional DNA testing. That was my mother on the telephone, she was angry." Brooke sighed, "She said I might as well be dead now too, since I chose Lucas over Lindsey."

"Victoria Davis," Rachel paused, "This original queen bitch. She'll get over it, your dad will talk to her."

Brooke opened her mouth to speak when her cell phone rang, "I'm very popular today. Hello."

"Miss Davis it's Jimmy Edwards, we found her."

* * *

So what do you all think? Let me know and review, review, review!

Thanks!

Krystal

Author's Note: I did a little bit of research about prison visits and care packages, not sure how accurate some of those exchanges in the chapter are, but I tried to find as much info as I could. :)


	6. Chapter 6

Hi my lovelies! So here is the new chapter for Ghosts... I am really enjoying updating this story. Shout out to all of you that set up favorites and alerts and of course thank you to all of my loyal reviewers (brucas, britt, aschly, dianehermans, thibbs65, sandygirl and the guests) you guys are the reason I update so quickly. :)

Thanks!

Krystal

* * *

Chapter 6:

 _Brooke opened her mouth to speak when her cell phone rang, "I'm very popular today. Hello."_

 _"Miss Davis it's Jimmy Edwards, we found her."_

Brooke gasped and dropped the phone, "B?" Rachel said, "What is it, what's wrong?" Rachel picked up the phone, "This is Rachel Gatina, who is this?" Rachel directed Brooke to the couch and sat her down.

"Miss Gatina this is Jimmy Edwards, Lucas Scott's attorney." Jimmy replied, "Where is Miss Davis?"

"She's sitting right next to me. What did you say to her?" Rachel responded with a hostile tone.

"Mr. Morello found Lorelei Keller, the woman we believe is actually her sister Lindsey Davis-Scott." Jimmy paused, "Prosecutor McFadden is going to be contacting Lindsey's next of kin. They will need to exhume her remains to re-confirm DNA."

"Huh, so the bitch pulled off faking her death? My mind is completely blown right now, sorry. So will the United States extradite her? What's the next step?" Rachel asked as she began to rub Brooke's back.

"I'm really not at liberty to discuss anything further with you Miss Gatina, is Miss Davis available to finish up our conversation?"

Rachel put the phone down for a second, "Brooke honey Mr. Edwards would like to talk to you."

Brooke put the phone to her ear, "Hi Mr. Edwards, I'm sorry I'm just in shock I suppose."

"That's understandable," He said, "I wanted to give you a heads up before Mr. McFadden contacted your parents."

Brooke smirked, "You're too late, my mother called me right before you did to yell at me." She sat up, "So let's say they confirm that the body my family had a funeral for isn't my sister and the woman living in Rio is Lindsey. What happens next? Will she be extradited? Will Lucas be released immediately?"

"That's unfortunate; I thought I had a jump on that call. Because my investigator's photographs are now considered exculpatory evidence I had to release that information to Mr. McFadden before I contacted you. I can't tell you exactly what's going to happen but hypothetically speaking, the likelihood of the DA's office seeking extradition is minimal. To my knowledge your sister hasn't committed any federal crime, since she never made an attempt to collect on her life insurance policy the fraud she is guilty of is all to do in relation to the corpse she misappropriated. Illegal disposal of a corpse carries minimal jail time. I think the maximum penalty is 2 years. The real question will be where the body came from. If your sister killed someone, then framed Lucas obviously that can carry a life sentence." Jimmy paused, "However until we verify the identity of the person your family buried I cannot tell you what is going to happen."

"What about bigamy?" Brooke asked.

"Unlikely," Jimmy answered, "A US citizen has to apply for a marriage license and perform a ceremony in the United States for a marriage to be considered legal."

"So my sister is living in Rio De Janeiro with Chris Keller and you can't MAKE her come home?" Brooke sighed, "What does that mean for Lucas?"

"When we verify the DNA of the corpse in your family plot. If it turns out that the body is not your sister Lucas could be exonerated in a little as month. Now to answer your question about Lindsey returning home. That's up to the DA's office and the state department." Jimmy hesitated before continuing, "As of twelve hours ago your sister is living under the assumed name Lorelei Keller, her and Chris have been married for a little over a year. They were celebrating their anniversary while Owen was staying in the Keller's hotel. They have one child, a daughter, Penelope Ninon, aged three months."

Brooke stopped him, "Wait, Penelope Ninon?"

Brooke heard Jimmy Edwards flipping through his notes, "Yes, Penelope Ninon Keller."

"Interesting," Brooke said, "Penelope is my middle name and Ninon was the name of my paternal grandmother." 'How original Linds' Brooke thought to herself.

* * *

"I should cancel tonight right?" Rachel said leaning her head against Brooke's.

"Hell no, go have a good time. Fall in love, get married, make babies and be marry." Brooke laughed when she saw Rachel's face, "Too much?"

Rachel laughed, "It's our first date turbo." Rachel pulled at the collar of her shirt.

Brooke stood up and snapped, "I have the perfect outfit, I just thought of it." Brooke headed towards her bedroom then hesitated in the doorway, "Wait where are you going?"

"We're heading to the Spectrum. We have tickets to the Improv, dinner at Umamiburger after and maybe drinks." Rachel looked at her nails, "If I'm going anywhere I need to fix my nails."

Brooke nodded and darted into her bedroom, she re-emerged holding a garment bag. She hung it up on the wall hooks reserved for purses and keys. She unzipped the bag, "Here, if you like it you can keep it actually."

Rachel stood up and peeked into the bag, "Who talked you into buying this? It's totally not your style."

"Nope, it isn't. The salesgirl at Bloomingdale's was TOO good at her job." Brooke leaned back in the wing-back chair in the corner.

Rachel took the romper and headed to the bathroom, "Only thing I'm worried about is the length, I'm taller than you are." A few minutes later Rachel re-appeared, "So what do you think?" She did a slow spin for her best friend.

Brooke looked at the black Lucy Paris romper with embroidered sheer boho bell sleeves. It cinched in at Rachel's waist perfectly and because of the sheer embroidered overlay covering the shorts added the right amount of length. "It looks great. I think you should finish it with nickle accessories, a silver clutch and silver nails."

Rachel clapped excitedly, "Yay! This is great, I think this little number is coming home with me. So do you think black ankle booties or black t-strap wedges?"

"It's warm enough for wedges. I think you should go with wedges." Brooke re-crossed her legs, "I think you you should let me do your hair before you leave though."

"I was just going to wear it down." Rachel frowned.

Brooke shook her head, "Down works, but if you wear it down you won't be able to showcase the cute back keyhole cutout." Brooke went to the refrigerator and brought back two bottled waters, "I want to do a french braid starting at the nape of your neck, stop just under the crown finish it off with a rubber band, then put it into a ratty unfinished bun. What do you think?"

"I think you're a lifesaver B." Rachel smiled, "So can we stop talking about me for a minute, I want to hear about how excited you are about Lucas getting out."

Brooke went to the bathroom and returned with nail polish remover and silver metallic polish. "Let's fix your nails."

"Alright, spill." Rachel sat down and began the to remove her old chipped polish.

"I'm more nervous than excited, what if Lindsey really is dead. Then we have to start this process all over again to prove Lucas's innocence and get him out of prison." Brooke's face fell, "I came to the realization a few days ago Rach that I want to make a life with Lucas and I'm terrified I won't be able to."

"That's totally normal. Lindsey has done everything she can to fuck with you and your happiness." Rachel rubbed a cotton ball against her nails, "You and Lucas have had at least a dozen glimpses into what life would be like if you got to love each other. That's a dozen that I personally have witnessed. The only reason they ended up getting married was because Lucas was determined to do the right thing by your sister and your parents."

Brooke put her head in her hands, "Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about Lindsey's "pregnancy scare" a month before the wedding."

"I didn't, Haley didn't. They were on a break, but it was on the down low. You and Lucas were spending an insane amount of time together and Lindsey couldn't take it." Rachel paused, "She couldn't ever take it when anyone noticed you first, especially Lucas. I would love to hear her reasoning behind framing him for murder though because there's no evidence that Lucas abused her, there's nothing she can say that could remotely justify trying to set him up. I wouldn't be surprised if this whole thing had less to do with Lucas and more to do with keeping YOU away from him. And she knew Lucas was in LOVE with you," Rachel smiled, "To have been a fly on the wall for that talk. I bet the look on Lindsey's face was priceless. Lindsey wasn't happy being ever being second best."

Brooke laughed, "Nope, she wasn't. It was so hard being her sister. If everything works out that she is in fact living in Rio and they don't decide to extradite her, I need to know why she did it. I'm her sister, Lucas was her husband. I haven't done anything to warrant that kind of anger."

"I'll tell you one thing for sure B, if Lindsey isn't dead and she finds out you and Lucas are going to get a happily ever after re-write. I want you to purchase a gun, because nothing is going to stop her from coming after you." Rachel shook her head, "It doesn't matter that she's in love with Chris and that she has a child, she isn't going to let you win."

Brooke thought carefully as Rachel's ominous words began to sink in, 'could she be right?' she wondered, 'did Lindsey punish Luke because she really wanted to punish me?' A chill washed over her body, she did her best to shake it off, "Alright let's get your nails done so I can do your hair."

* * *

Brooke woke up the next morning having gotten the worst night's sleep ever, it was like she hadn't slept in years. She had dreamed of her sister and seemed to remember every horrible nasty thing Lindsey had ever done to her throughout their lives. The hairs on her arms were on end and she realized she was drenched in sweat. She didn't think there was anything that could help her shake the fear she had right now, the fear that has plagued her during the last fifteen hours. Brooke knew there was only one person that could help her work through this... Lucas. She frowned when she remembered that he hadn't called last night. She got out of bed, quickly showered and changed into a floral cap sleeve romper. She sent off a quick text message to Rachel asking about her night out with Chase and began the three hour drive to Corcoran Prison. She needed to see Lucas and she needed to be comforted by him now.

* * *

"Miss Davis come with me." The prison receptionist said at visitor check in.

"Is there a problem?" Brooke wondered.

The receptionist didn't answer her until they were in front of a white metal door, "There was an accident yesterday, Inmate Scott is currently in the infirmary." She swiped her key card, "Glen here is going to finish checking you in and then you will be able to Mr. Scott."

Brooke looked at her name-tag, "Thank you Trudy."

"Of course," Trudy smiled, "I need to get back, enjoy your visit Miss Davis."

The door opened, "Miss Davis?" Glen asked, "Identification please."

Brooke handed him her driver's license and waited while he closed the door behind her, "Follow me please."

They stopped outside an avocado green colored door, "You will have a private visit today since Inmate Scott is considered a high risk inmate. My records show you've been here for a visit before?"

"Yes," Brooke nodded.

"Great, the rules are relaxed when the inmate is in the infirmary Miss Davis," he handed her back her license, "But I don't want to hear any hanky panky or we will be forced to suspend your visits. Inmate Scott is not yet eligible for conjugal visits." He opened the door for her, "Understood?"

"Yes sir, thank you." Brooke entered the room and pulled the door shut behind her.

Lucas craned his neck to see who had come in, "Pretty girl?" He smiled.

Brooke rushed to his bedside, "Luke what happened?" Brooke noticed the fresh stitches on his eyebrow, along with the two black eyes. Lucas slowly sat up and she gasped at the wound dressing on his side.

"It looks worse than it is, I swear." Lucas's face winced as he laughed, "You should see the other guy." Brooke burst into tears, Lucas shifted to one side of the hospital bed, "Come here Brooke."

Brooke laid down on the bed and cuddled against Lucas's chest, when she was calm she said, "What happened to you?"

"I was in the yard and a fight broke out." Lucas brought her in closer, "Instinctively I tried to break up the fight, I got stabbed with a toothbrush. When I fell to the ground I was kicked in the face a couple of times. The doctor said I was lucky it didn't hit anything critical. It bled like a bitch though and the stitches are itching. I had a concussion, a gash on my eyebrow and my nose is broken."

"When did this happen?" Brooke asked gripping Lucas's hand.

"Two days ago, did Jimmy call you?" He kissed her forehead. "I'm so happy to see you pretty girl."

"I talked to him yesterday, he didn't tell me you got hurt. We mostly talked about Lindsey." Brooke looked up at him, "When I didn't hear from you I made the decision to come up here."

"I'm so happy to see you, did they tell you how long you get to stay?" Lucas asked.

"No, Glen just stressed no sex or they would suspend my visits." Brooke blushed.

Lucas chuckled, "Well they don't have to worry about that," he tilted Brooke's chin to his and kissed her softly, "The first time we make love Davis it isn't going to be while I'm locked up."

Brooke giggled, "That's probably a good idea," She leaned into him again, "So tell me about this amazing first date you're going to take me on when we get you out of here."

"Gladly pretty girl." Lucas brought her hand to his lips, "Glady."

* * *

So what did you think? I hope you all loved it! This was actually my FAVORITE chapter for this story to date. I've started the next chapter and so far it's shaping up just to be the remainder of Brooke's visit with Lucas. :)

Tell me what you thought and review, review, review!

Thanks!

Krystal

Author's Note: I did some research on people faking their death, just a tip if you're going to google fake your death be sure to tell your significant other it's research for a story (trying to explain that to my husband was interesting). According to the information I found faking your death isn't actually a crime, BUT the crimes that might ensue after you fake your death can carry hefty prison sentences. This will be explored further in the next few chapters. :)


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone! Thank you for all the reviews, (naley23alwaysforever, lilohb, thibbs65, aschly, brit, brucas, sandygirl, dianehermans, GG, sidz2891 and the guest reviewers) you guys are awesome. Keep it up.

Thanks!

Krystal

* * *

Chapter 7:

 _Lucas chuckled, "Well they don't have to worry about that," he tilted Brooke's chin to his and kissed her softly, "The first time we make love Davis it isn't going to be while I'm locked up."_

 _Brooke giggled, "That's probably a good idea," She leaned into him again, "So tell me about this amazing first date you're going to take me on when we get you out of here."_

 _"Gladly pretty girl." Lucas brought her hand to his lips, "Gladly."_

After Lucas was quiet for a few minutes Brooke laughed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot." She could read on his face that he was deep in thought.

"No, I was just thinking about my options. So many good choices." Lucas smiled, "Oh I've got it," He leaned down and kissed her temple. "I would come over to your house and cook for you. I mean that is what the kitchen is for, I know yours is confused as to it's purpose." Brooke bit his ear, "Ouch what was that for? It's true, Victoria didn't teach you how to cook. You forget I have been to your house for dinner, it's ALWAYS take out."

"The last time you were in my house for dinner was at least three years ago. I taught myself how to cook since then, don't get me wrong I'm not a professional or anything, but I can follow a recipe." Brooke retorted. "So you're going to cook for me," Brooke coughed, "Boring." Brooke brought her left hand to her chest, "Oh I'm sorry there was something stuck in my throat. I am better now."

"I wasn't finished," Lucas glared, "I had to wait because I was interrupted by someone," Lucas pulled her in closer, "So rude Brooke, I expected better." They laughed, "So I'm going to cook for you, something elaborate, I want you to be impressed with my prowess. I don't do desserts though so after I have wowed you with my skills in the kitchen, we would head down to Downtown Disney for dessert and fireworks. I would even be willing to spring for rooftop preferred seating." He winked, "Lastly we would head down to Balboa Harbor with a thermos of hot coco and a blanket. We could stay up all night cuddled together, just listen to the waves crash on the shore and wait until the sun comes up." He kissed her lips and nibbled her ear, "Plus I'm sure we would spend a great deal of the date doing a lot of this, so I'll be sure to bring some chap stick."

Brooke closed her eyes and thought about how amazing that all sounded, "Okay that does sound like a great first date. It wouldn't work for every woman though, not everyone is in to fireworks."

"True, but I know my girl, she loves them." Lucas took in deep breath and winced in pain. He leaned in close, "I have spent the last five July fourths searching for the best fireworks I could get a hold of because I love to watch her face light up with every fizzle and boom."

Brooke's face fell when she saw his face, "I'm going to move, I'm probably hurting you."

"Don't you dare," Lucas wrapped his arms around her tighter, "I'm mostly just sore, you moving is only going to make it worse."

Brooke rubbed her hand along Lucas's chest, "So I have a question for you."

"Ask away pretty girl." Lucas yawned, "I am an open book." He chuckled, "I think you know everything about me anyways, but shoot. Let's hear what you got?"

"When did you realize you had feelings for me?" Brooke asked.

Lucas smiled, "At the risk of sounding like a dumb cliche, I think I've always loved you. When Nathan and I came back from High Flyers the summer before my senior year," He closed his eyes to truly remember the memory, "I remember thinking to myself why hadn't I noticed you that way before. But Lindsey convinced me we had too much history to just throw it all away." Lucas sighed, "If I had a dollar for every time she played that card I would have been a rich man."

Brooke laughed, "You and Nathan play in the NBA, I think you're fine money wise."

"That's true huh?" Lucas turned a little, "This thing itches."

"I bet it does," Brooke kissed her fingers and pressed them lightly to Lucas's abdomen.

Lucas moaned, "I said we couldn't have sex in here right?" He grunted, "The first time needs to be memorable, secret prison sex would be more sad than memorable."

Brooke couldn't help but giggle at Lucas's honesty, "I should have just told you how I felt, it would have saved us both a whole lot of trouble."

"It's alright baby, we are here now." Lucas pulled her closer.

"In a prison hospital?" Brooke kinked her eyebrow.

Lucas laughed, "Shhh. You're going to ruin the moment. Just go with it."

* * *

Brooke stirred when she heard the door to Lucas's room open, "Sorry to disturb you ma'am I'm just here to change his dressings," the prison nurse smiled.

"Go ahead," Brooke moved and it was Lucas's turn to stir, "Relax I'm not going anywhere, your dressings need to be changed."

Lucas smiled and looked at her, "I could get used to that you know, waking up with you in my arms." He realized how cheesy he sounded and laughed, "I'm sorry pretty girl, I've been laying it on a little thick haven't I?"

"It's fine," Brooke leaned down and gave him a quick peck before she sat down in the chair across from him, "It will be nice when we can just be together, you know without all of this."

"Mr. Scott, can you sit up for me?" The nurse asked.

Lucas obliged, "How's it looking, it's itching like crazy."

"Itching is good, that means it's healing." The nurse removed the bloody gauze, "Did they already tell you how incredibly lucky you were to have not bled out in the yard. I read through your charts, fighting off four men, it's amazing you were only struck twice." The nurse carefully reapplied the new dressings and smiled, "All set, enjoy the rest of your visit."

After the nurse left, Brooke's eyes narrowed at Lucas, "You lied to me Lucas. Why did you tell me that you helped someone?"

"I didn't want you to worry about me, I can't just leave and I know how you get honey. I didn't want you to fixate on being getting stabbed. We're going to get me out of here, soon enough my stint in prison will be like a tiny blip on the radar. If Jimmy can work his magic like he thinks he can I should be moved to a county jail by the end of the month. County means the return to solitary, that's good news no more opportunities to be stabbed." He caught a glimpse of Brooke's face, "Too soon?" He smiled, "So county would be a good thing because I would be right down the street. Not a four hour drive away." Lucas motioned for her to join him again, "Please don't be mad at my pretty girl, I want to enjoy the rest of our visit. I will enjoy it even if you are angry with me, but it won't be as fun."

"Do they know who attacked you?" Brooke asked as she sat down on the bed.

Lucas shrugged, "Some lifer thugs that hated me from my baller NBA days. Why?"

"Rachel thinks that if Lindsey is in fact alive, that when she finds out we're together that she'll come after me to keep me from finding happiness with you." Brooke realized she was shaking, "She couldn't have ordered a hit on you could she?"

Lucas laughed till it hurt, "I'm going to throttle that red head when I get out of here, putting all that shit in your head. This isn't a mob movie pretty girl, you can't just order a hit on someone in prison. I'm guessing it would be a lot more than just making one phone call and the voice on the other line responding 'it will be done'. Look Lindsey is crazy, that isn't a secret. But she's living in Rio with Chris and their son? Daughter? I can't remember what she was carrying. And to the best of our knowledge she doesn't know that we're on to her."

"A daughter, Lindsey and Chris had a daughter, they named her Penelope." Brooke wiped her tear cheeks.

"Damn, that's a little on the nose, even for your sister." Lucas grinned, "I am going to forgo pressing charges against her when I get out of here," Lucas saw the alarmed look on Brooke's face, "No, none of that. I never wanted Lindsey to be miserable, rotting in jail somewhere. I just didn't want to be locked up for a crime I didn't commit. If she is happy with her life in Rio, I want her to stay in Rio."

"Is that really up to you though," Brooke asked, nuzzling into his chest once again. "I got the impression from your lawyer that it depends on the State Department and the prosecutors."

"That is true, but I still want them to know that I don't want to pursue charges. I have told Jimmy that I want a divorce decree drawn up immediately, so I can move on with my life," he wrapped his arm around Brooke's waist, "OUR life."

"You are completely insane Lucas Eugene Scott, how can you be so calm about all of this?" Brooke questioned. "I'm going crazy thinking about where this whole ordeal is going to end."

Lucas shrugged, "It's really simple, I'm going to get to spend my life loving you, if you'll have me." Lucas kissed her tenderly, "Lindsey gets to be happy pretty girl, I want to be happy too."

* * *

So what did you guys think? I hope you liked it, it's a bit shorter than I normally post, but I wanted to keep it brucas only.

Show me the love, you know what to do, press that button and review, review, review!

Thanks again!

Krystal


	8. Chapter 8

Hi everyone... Thank you for all the reviews, do I really have to tell you that I love you? :)

Thanks!

Krystal

* * *

 **Chapter 8:**

 ***Two Weeks Later***

"Hello?" Brooke said sleepily.

"Hi Pippa, it's Keith Scott." Keith said into the receiver.

Brooke sat up in bed and smiled, "Hello Mr. Scott." Keith Scott had called Brooke by the nickname Pippa since she was a little girl and still introduced herself using her full name, she had trouble pronouncing Penelope and would say Pippa-nelope instead. "What can I do for you? Is everything alright?"

"I'm not going to tell you again... My name is Keith, we are family Pippa no need to be so formal."

"I'm sorry, old habits you know." Brooke stretched her arms over her head, "What's going on? Is everything alright?"

"Karen and I would like to invite you to dinner tonight. Nathan, Haley and Jamie will be there, we would love it if you could join us."

"Let me check my planner," Brooke opened her nightstand and pulled out her day planner and flipped to the date, "I'm free for dinner. Would you like me to bring anything?"

"No, just bring your normal cheery self" Keith coughed, "See you at 6 Pippa dear. Goodbye."

Brooke smiled and wrote down her dinner plans into her day planner. She was excited, she hadn't really seen Keith and Karen Scott since Lucas was arrested, accept for a few times in passing when she went to her parents house recently they had all been avoiding each other. "Tonight should be fun."

* * *

Brooke was running late to her lunch with Rachel, "I'm so sorry I'm late." Brooke sat down at the table across from Rachel, "Were you waiting long?"

"No, I just got here." Rachel handed her a menu, "But you're never late. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Keith called me this morning and invited me to dinner tonight." Brooke sat her purse down and started to look over the menu. "So how was your date with Chase?"

Rachel blushed at the mention of Chase's name, "It was nice, he's really sweet. We're going out again in a few days and I'm planning to stop by the hospital later with dinner for him. He's in the middle of a 48 hour rotation."

"That's great Rach, I knew you two would hit it off." Brooke smiled, "This never happens, we are both in relationships at the same time."

"Speaking of relationships how is everyone's favorite prisoner?" Rachel took a sip of her water. "Has he made a full recovery yet? Is he still in solitary?"

"Lucas is doing as well as can be expected. I can tell that he's starting to get anxious about the DNA results. They exhumed Lindsey's body a little over a week ago, Jimmy Edwards said we can hear the results any day now. Then Lucas can be transferred to a county jail before his release." Brooke frowned thinking of her parents, "My mother still isn't taking my calls. She sent me a text message stating that I should be ashamed of myself for lusting after my sister's husband and wanting him to defile me."

Rachel laughed, "She really said defile." Rachel fanned her face, "Well I declare." She paused to laugh a second time, "She'll come around as soon as it comes out that the woman you buried and mourned isn't Lindsey. How's your dad?"

"Seeing his secretary..." Brooke blurted out.

"What? Ted is stepping out on Vicky Davis, I never thought I would see the day." Rachel shook her head, "Lindsey certainly left a big wake. Why didn't see just divorce Lucas again?"

"No idea, and if they choose not to extradite her we may never know." Brooke pouted, "Do you think my family will ever be whole again?"

Rachel reached across the table and squeezed Brooke's hand, "Of course, you just have to neutralize Lindsey... Crazy is contagious B and your sister's brand of crazy is spreading like wildfire."

"My dad is surprisingly unaffected by all of this, it's like deep down he never thought she was dead." Brooke paused, "That's the type of crazy you were talking about isn't it?"

Rachel nodded, "Yes it is, keep it up B and I'll be forced to have you committed."

* * *

Brooke let out a deep breath when she drove passed her parents house and saw the driveway empty. She parked behind Nathan and Haley's car and headed up the walkway. She knocked on the front door, "Pippa," Keith said with a smile. He brought her in for a hug and crunched the bags she was holding, "I told you just to bring yourself. Are you incapable of listening to a damn thing a grown up tells you?"

"My parents taught me it was rude to come to someone's house empty handed, I couldn't help myself." Brooke pulled away and opened her bag, "I brought two bottles of wine: one white, one red because I wasn't sure what you were making and I brought flowers for Karen."

"You've never had trouble using her first name I see," Keith let out a hearty laugh, "What's wrong with me?"

"You have always scared me, I can't help it." Brooke giggled.

Keith laughed again, "Sure scared my foot. If you were so afraid of me you would have never crept into my house as a teenager or gone skinny dipping in my pool or replaced my alcohol with colored water." Brooke bit her lip, "Yeah, you get the picture. Now bring that bony little ass of yours inside, you're letting all the cool air out."

Keith closed the door behind her, "It's nice to see you Keith, I've missed you guys."

"Oh Pippa we have missed you too." Keith took the wine from her hands, "Everyone is in the kitchen, we've been waiting for you."

Brooke entered the kitchen and grinned at the sight of her second family, "Hello everyone."

"Brooke," Karen got up from the table and pulled Karen into her arms, "How is my son doing?"

Brooke pulled back and sighed, "Who told you?"

"Why Lucas did of course," Karen replied, "I knew you were the one, I've known you were the one. It was only a matter of time before you two found your way to each other."

Brooke handed Karen the flowers she brought her, "He's doing as well as can be expected. We're just waiting for the results to come in. Jimmy said he has all of the motions prepared so they can be filed as soon as he gets the lab results from the prosecutors. I keep reminding him to stay positive."

"Thank you for that," Karen pulled a vase from the cupboard, "I don't know what it is but Lucas has always been a bit of a..."

"Sad sack," Nathan interrupted.

"Worry wart?" Haley offered.

"Debbie downer?" Keith said.

"Broody." Brooke laughed.

"That's enough, all of you. My Lucas is just a little sensitive, I know he's trying but he gets..."

"Broody." They all said in unison. Karen went to say something else but instead she threw up her hands and everyone laughed.

After all the food was on the table Nathan smiled, "This looks great ma. You really outdid yourself."

"I felt like celebrating I guess. I got a good nights sleep and decided I needed my family here tonight. I missed seeing Jamie's sweet face and Brooke," Karen placed her hand on top of her', "I'm just so glad you were able to join us."

"Yeah Brooke, we've missed you where have you been?" Haley quizzed.

Brooke felt her cheeks flush, "I have been spending my days off with Lucas. While he was recovering from the stabbing his visiting hours were different, I could spend 12 hours with him. So that's where I've been."

"Brooke and Lucas sitting in a tree." Nathan sang, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G..." Haley pinched him, "Ouch, first comes love, then comes marriage." Nathan stopped, "Wait you can't get married can you?"

"Not if Lindsey is alive no. He's already married."

"To your sister," Nathan cackled. "That's funny."

Keith cleared his throat to say something when they all heard a knock at the door, "Are we expecting anyone else?" Karen asked, looking to Keith.

"Not that I know of," Keith stood up, "I'll be right back."

* * *

"Open the door Keith!" Victoria rapped on the door, "Karen!"

Ted Davis jogged up the steps, "Vicky I told you this was not the time to do this."

"Our other daughter is here Ted, don't you see." Victoria pointed behind him, "That mini cooper is hers." She turned back to the door, "Open up!"

Keith opened the door and Victoria barged in, "Victoria, Ted what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Brooke!" Victoria wailed.

Brooke, Nathan and Haley came out of the kitchen, "What's going on mom?"

"I knew you would be here. You have no self control at all!" Victoria screamed, "Mr. McFadden just called, the results came back, the body wasn't your sisters. Are you happy now?"

"Did you honestly come over here to yell about your daughter being alive?" Nathan asked before taking a few steps forward so he was in front of Haley and Brooke. "That news should have made you happy?"

Brooke watched as her father put his hands on Victoria's shoulders, "Come on Vicky let me take you home. Keith, Karen I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize to them." Victoria seethed, "You sit here and act like you are so perfect, your son is a murderer." She pointed at Nathan, "Your brother is a murderer."

"Mom, that's enough. Lindsey is alive and living in Rio with Chris Keller." Brooke stood next to Keith, "They were married and they have a daughter, if anyone deserves your wrath mama it's Lindsey. She did this to us, she broke our family."

Victoria's eyes widened in shock, "What did you just say?" Brooke brought her hands to her mouth, "Cat got your tongue? Answer me Brooklyn Penelope Davis this instant."

"I didn't want to tell you until we had concrete proof mama." Brooke paused, "I found letters from Chris in Lucas and Lindsey's house. A few days later I found Chris's Instagram account, all over his page were pictures of Lindsey and she was pregnant. Nathan gave the information to Lucas's attorney and he sent a private investigator to Brazil to confirm my suspicions. He found Lindsey and Chris living happily in Rio with their daughter Penelope." Brooke wiped at the tears streaming down her face, "So I'll say it again, Lindsey broke us mom."

Victoria Davis started crying harder and collapsed to the floor, "My baby..." She sobbed. "My baby..."

"Daddy, let's bring mom home," Brooke said to her father.

Ted Davis was just as shocked as his wife by Brooke's words, "I can manage princess." He leaned in and kissed Brooke's forehead, "Let me get your mother comfortable, I already left a message for her doctor before she came over here. That was a lot of information you just let out, I'll call you in about an hour."

Keith helped pick up Victoria, "Nathan, son get the door please."

Ted turned to the ladies, "I'm sorry we interrupted your visit." Ted sighed, "This past year has really been a lot for my wife."

"It's quite alright Ted," Karen said from the doorway leading to the kitchen, "Our families have been through a lot, only way to survive is to lean on each other. Keith and I would love it if you had dinner with us sometime this week."

"That would be great," Ted smiled a weak smile and walked out of the house.

* * *

"Lucas Eugene Scott it is with this courts sincerest apologies that I overturn your conviction, dismiss the State's case with prejudice and release you." The judge looked out into the courtroom, "Your case is an unusual one Mr. Scott, I would like to say that you are an exception, but I have sat on this bench for 20 years and in that time I have released 37 people wrongfully convicted of a crime." The judge adjusted her glasses, "Mr. McFadden anything to add?"

"Yes your honor," Marvin McFadden stood up and buttoned his jacket, "In light of the new evidence presented we are comfortable with the courts ruling. After I leave court I am going to turn over this information to the Federal prosecutors and they will proceed accordingly. The DA's office is not prepared to make any further statements at this time."

"Mr. Edwards?" The judge motioned.

"At this time your honor my client would like to simply say that he is grateful to be released and he wishes the prosecutors good luck on their future cases." Jimmy paused, "Mr. Scott is looking forward to resuming his life seeking the comfort of his friends and family."

The judge nodded, "If there are no further comments," She waited to see if there was anything else, "Okay, court adjourned."

Brooke sat on the court steps and watched Jimmy and Marvin conduct a press conference, when it was finished and the photographers left Brooke felt a hand on her shoulder, she smiled and turned. "So pretty girl how about that date."

Brooke hugged him tight and kissed him tenderly, "I have been waiting for this moment for months."

Lucas lifted her chin and kissed her a second time, "I know the feeling pretty girl, believe me I understand completely."

* * *

So feelings? Thoughts? Concerns? Hit review and give me your thoughts... I love hearing from all of you. Based on the outline I have for this story there are only 3 more chapters and an epilogue to post... So the end is near...

Thank you all again!

Krystal


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long time in between posts, I have been nursing on old hand injury that can make typing difficult. I'm feeling better so I was able to update (Woo-Hoo!) Now with that out of the way, I would like to say thank you to all of you that have reviewed... You rock. This story has been a lot of fun to write and reading all of your kind words has been the cherry on the top of one giant sundae. I update frequently for all of you. :)

Thank you all so so much!

Krystal

* * *

Chapter 9:

 ***Three Months Later***

Brooke rolled over and was face to face with Lucas, she smiled at the serene look on his face, "Wake up sleepy head."

Lucas cocked one eye open, "Do I have to wake up?" He stretched and pulled her close to him, "I was having the most incredible dream."

Brooke kissed him, "I'm sorry you know we can't this morning. We're going to be late." Brooke wriggled from his grasp and pulled the blankets from the bed.

Lucas pulled his legs to his chest and pouted, "Who's brilliant idea was it to schedule a meeting so early in the morning?"

"It isn't that early Lucas," Brooke looked at the clock on her nightstand, "Now get up Jimmy is going to meet us at the DA's office."

Lucas rolled over and groaned, "I already told them I wasn't filing charges."

"I don't think it's that simple." Brooke tickled his rib cage, "Now get up, get up, get up."

Lucas huffed and sat up, "Fine, but you owe me Davis. Big time."

Brooke stood between his legs and bent her head to meet his lips, "I always pay my debts Scott, now get that cute little ass of yours in gear." Thirty minutes later Lucas was still grumbling, but Brooke didn't care because they were now in the car. "So penny for your thoughts Luke?"

"Nope," Lucas shook his head, "I just want to put this phase of my life behind me. Nathan and I have been training together, I'm technically a free agent next year but my publicist thinks it would make a good story if I go to a few D-League combines. So that's the plan," Lucas kissed her palm, "And spending as much time with you as possible."

Brooke rolled her eyes, "When have you been training with Nathan. You have hardly left my apartment since you got out, playing NBA Live on the XBOX doesn't count either."

"I leave when you're at the studio," Lucas smirked, "Speaking of which, can I just say the yoga moves only add to your top notch sexual skills."

"I got into yoga because I hated Pilates, Lindsey used to make me go with her. I didn't see the point, now I do yoga and spin." Brooke smiled, "I'm ignoring that last comment by the way, a lady never speaks of such things."

"Who told you that you were a lady," Lucas snorted. Brooke pinched him, "Alright, alright. You're a lady... I guess."

* * *

Brooke and Lucas headed inside the DA building and stopped at the receptionist's desk, "Miss Davis and Mr. Scott to see Mr. McFadden." Brooke felt a shiver run down her spine, she turned to Lucas, "The last time I was here it was to go over my testimony for your trial."

"They did a good job," Lucas nodded, "After you testified and I had that outburst in court Jimmy told me I needed to consider taking a deal."

Brooke kinked her eyebrow, "But there was no deal, I was there when they read the verdict."

"I know pretty girl," Lucas encircled her waist, "I refused to take a deal. I hadn't killed your sister, I wasn't going to confess to a crime I didn't commit."

"Right this way please," The receptionist interrupted.

"Thank you," Lucas said with one of his signature squinty smiles as they reached the door to the conference room.

Brooke and Lucas went inside as the receptionist shut the door behind them, "Brooke Davis, Lucas Scott it's so nice to meet you," the brown haired man said as he walked towards them to shake their hands, "I'm the federal attorney that's been assigned to your case, I'm Julian Baker."

Lucas shook his hand first, "What case? I already informed Mr. McFadden that I didn't want to persue charges. I just want to be granted my divorce and move on with my life."

Julian directed them to the table where Marvin and Jimmy were already seated, "Unfortunately Mr. Scott that isn't possible. Your wife-"

"Ex wife," Lucas corrected.

"Forgive me, ex wife," Julian continued, "Well she broke several laws when she framed you for murder, none of which are serious but if we could entice her to come back to the country willingly we want to pursue criminal charges."

"That's why they called this meeting Luke," Jimmy sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his barrel chest. "They would like your full cooperation."

Brooke felt herself begin to fidget, "Why can't she be extradited?"

"The extradition treaty we have in place with Brazil has some clear rules on what is a punishable crime requiring both government agencies to act," Julian looked at his notes, "Your sister committed bigamy when she married Christopher Keller under an assumed name."

"Then what's the problem?" Lucas huffed.

"She has a small child," Julian sighed, "That complicates extradition. Brazil doesn't like to separate children from their mothers. I've spoken with my contact at the state department and he said if we pursued extradition the Brazilian government would simply void Lindsey's Brazilian union, explain that she needs a Bill of Divorcement stating you two are no longer married, then she would be free to remarry at her leisure."

"What about her living under an assumed identity?" Brooke wondered.

"Aside from the marriage license there isn't currently any proof she is pretending to someone else." Julian sighed again and rubbed his head, "Changing one's name is easily done on foreign soil she wouldn't even need to step foot in our embassy."

Lucas pressed his forehead to the cold metal table, "So why even fight it, I just want a divorce. I haven't gone ahead with civil proceedings against the State of California. I just want to move on," Lucas gestured in Jimmy's direction, "Isn't there something you can do to make this go away, what do I pay you for?"

Brooke could feel the frustration emanating from Lucas, she placed her hand in his, "So if I did agree to do this what would we do exactly?"

* * *

The drive back to her apartment was quiet, Brooke gripped the steering wheel, "Are you ever going to speak to me or are you planning on sulking the rest of the night."

"I just can't believe that you would entertain their idea." Lucas hissed, "I thought you of all people-"

"Me of all people what?" Brooke scoffed, "She is my sister I want to know why she did it, I'm happy that you can just move on with your life Lucas because I can't."

Lucas's face reddened, "I hadn't thought about how you were feeling, I'm sorry pretty girl."

"I have been really understanding about your prison stint Luke but I NEED to know why Lindsey framed you for murder instead of just divorcing you." Brooke shook her head, "Every time I think about it, I can't come up with an answer."

Lucas reached for her hand, "I am sorry. I didn't think about how this affected you and your family."

Brooke rolled her eyes, "I have no idea how this is affecting my family Luke, my mother hasn't spoken to me since you were released. My father moved out and is really close to filing for divorce." Brooke blinked back tears, "These past two years haven't just been hard on you, Lindsey destroyed my parents. Now I know that tricking her into coming home might not work, I also know that even if she is arrested I might never get any answers." Brooke let out a deep sigh, "But that is a risk I NEED to take." Brooke pulled into her carport and silently got out of the car, she walked up to her front door and heard her telephone ringing.

"Are you the only person on the planet that still has a house phone?" Lucas asked with a smile, doing his best to break the tense moment they had just shared.

"I don't like having my cell phone on when I'm home," Brooke said as she unlocked the door, "I am a slave to no one, I am certainly not going to be beholden to my cell phone." She walked inside and reached for her still ringing house phone, "Hi daddy."

"Brooke, where are you?" Ted Davis said into the receiver.

Brooke sensed the panic in his voice, "What's wrong daddy?"

"It's your mother, I went by the house this afternoon to fix the garbage disposal. I found her in our bedroom, she had swallowed a bottle of pills."

Brooke covered her mouth, "Is she dead?"

"She's in a coma princess, I am with her right now at Irvine Regional Medical Center." Ted sighed, "They don't know if she's going to wake up honey, I think you should be here if," Ted cleared his throat, "WHEN she wakes up."

Brooke felt her eyes burn with a few hot salty tears, "Alright daddy, I'll be right there. What room is she in?"

Brooke got off the phone nd sat down on the couch, "What happened pretty girl?" Lucas asked as he sat down next to her and rubbed her back.

"My mother tried to kill herself." Brooke cried, "I need to go to the hospital."

"I'll come with you, you shouldn't be driving and I don't want you to be alone." Lucas kissed her temple, "What can I do?"

"Just be here," Brooke cried into his arms, "Just be here."

* * *

Brooke looked at her watch: _4:33am_ she stared into the waiting room and smiled at the sight in front of her. Lucas had circled the wagons and within an hour of arriving at the hospital the Scott family had settled in for the long haul. There was still no change with her mother, the doctors had said if there was no change in the next twenty-four hours they would need to evaluate possible end of life options. Brooke opened the google app on her phone and searched for _Keller House Bed and Breakfast_. When she found the phone number she wasn't entirely sure what she was going to say when someone answered but she knew she had to try. A few months ago she had researched the time difference and knew it would be morning time in Rio. She looked out at the chairs, everyone was asleep, "No one to talk me out of calling Lindsey," she said aloud. She dialed the number, "Here goes nothing."

On the third ring a woman's voice answered, "Keller Bed and Breakfast, como posso ajuda-lo?"

'Portuguese, I'm assuming,' Brooke thought, "English por favor?" 'Great one Brooke, that's Spanish.'

"I speak English as well, how may I help you?" The woman said.

Brooke closed her eyes, "I need to speak to Lorelei Keller."

"Then today is your lucky day," Lindsey said, "This is she, may I ask who you are?"

Brooke was upset she hadn't recognized her voice, "My name is Brooke Davis, remember me... Your little sister."

The line was silent for such a long time Brooke almost hung up thinking Lindsey had hung up on her, "How did you know I was still alive?"

"That doesn't matter right now, what matters is that you need to come home." Brooke said quickly.

"Not a change Brookey."

"You need to come home Linds, mom is in the hospital, she tried to kill herself yesterday." Brooke massaged her temples, "The doctors have told us to prepare for the worst."

There was a second long silence, "I don't believe you. Mom is the most stable person I know, she would NEVER EVER hurt herself."

"Well it's been a rough two years, she grieved the death of her eldest child to only find out later that she was still alive and the body she cried over and buried was a total stranger." Brooke gripped the chair arm, willing herself to stay calm, "Plus she took daddy moving out really hard."

"Her and dad are getting divorced," Lindsey said.

Brooke was surprised by how shocked she sounded, "So do you need proof or something, I could take a picture of her comatose in her hospital bed. Or maybe one of dad holding vigil at her bedside?" Brooke paused, "And I love how you just glossed over the first part about her grieving an impostor."

"I didn't know that you guys knew I had faked my death."

"Please Linds, if there is anything that I have figured out over the past few months it's that you are a lot smarter than we have ever given you credit for, so stop pretending you had no idea that we figured out your hoax." Brooke stood up and headed towards the atrium so she wouldn't wake anyone. "So what is it going to take to get you to come home."

"I can't come home Brookey I'm sure you realize that, don't you."

"Figures, I didn't think you could even be bothered." Brooke picked at her nails, "That would mean you cared for someone more than you cared for yourself."

Lindsey laughed, "So feisty, I have missed your biting wit Brookey dear. I must be going, but please call me after Victoria dies, I'm sure there is money coming to me. So long little sister."

Before Brooke could answer Lindsey hung up the phone, Brooke smiled then flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder, "Luke you scared me."

"I'm sorry I fell asleep, any update on your mother?" Lucas yawned.

"No," Brooke put her phone back in her purse, "But I spoke to Lindsey and she's coming home to see my mother."

Lucas's eyes widened, "What? You talked to Lindsey and she agreed to come home?"

"No, not exactly." Brooke kissed her lips, "She told me to notify her when mother died."

Lucas squinted, "Wait I don't understand."

Brooke glared in his direction, "Really did you know Lindsey AT ALL?" Brooke laughed at the blank look that crept across Lucas's face, "Lindsey was always my mother's favorite, she knew it, I knew it." Lucas frowned, "None of that, I've always been my daddy's little princess I got the better end of the deal. Believe me," Brooke pushed her hair behind her ear, "Back to what I was saying, "Lindsey was extremely nasty on the phone, she's going to come home but she knows that we know she's still alive. She's going to sneak into the hospital to see her I'm sure of it."

"Then we should contact Mr. Baker," Lucas said.

Brooke shook her head, "No, that isn't a good idea because he'll want to put extra security on the floor, Lindsey would see them and run. We're going to have to detain her ourselves."

Lucas laughed, "I'm not sure this is a matter to be handled with some vigilante justice pretty girl, we should let the professionals handle this."

"No Lucas, this is a family matter." Brooke furrowed her brow, "Lindsey broke us and it is my responsibility to put us back together." She noticed the look on his face, "I'll call her back and tip her off Lucas, if we are detaining Lindsey it has to happen my way."

Lucas put up his hands, "Alright I give up, what's the plan pretty girl."

* * *

So there you have it... Chapter 9... This story has two more chapters (one chapter & the epilogue).

Tell me what you thought, you know what to do, press that little button and review, review, review! :)

Thanks again!

Krystal


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10:_

'Two days and still no change,' Brooke thought to herself. "Come on mom I need you to wake up."

"The nurses said she can hear us honey," Ted came in holding two cups of coffee, "We should talk to her. Where is Lucas?"

"I sent him home, he spent a long time sleeping on a prison cot, I appreciate him wanting to be here but there is no reason we both have to sleep on shitty hospital chairs." Brooke smiled, "Did I miss any updates when I went to work this morning?"

"No," Ted handed Brooke one of the paper cups, "The doctors have said it isn't good or bad. The magic amount of time is 72 hours. Tomorrow is the testing day, then we'll know more."

"Alright," Brooke said with a sigh, "What happened with you guys daddy?"

Ted shrugged, "I wish I had an answer for you princess, we just grew apart, then everything happened with Lindsey and she just wouldn't look at me anymore. She said I reminded her too much of Lindsey, she started sleeping in your sisters room, we started fighting all the time and then I loved out."

"I'm sorry daddy." Brooke wiped at the tears that were now streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry too princess." Ted sighed, "She cannot die, I have loved your mother since we were 8 years old. When we started high school I practically forced her to go on a date with me. She had a crush on Skip Marshall, my best friend. After that first date she was mine." Ted removed his pocket square and patted his face, "We've been married almost 31 years," He squeezed Victoria's hand, "Please wake up, you are my heart and I don't think I can live without you."

Brooke couldn't believe what she was hearing, she had always known that her parents loved each other, but aside from a few times she caught them dancing in the kitchen they were never affectionate in front of her and her sister. "She's going to wake up daddy." Brooke bounced her hair and flipped it behind her head, "Brooklyn what are you doing with your hair these days?" She imitated her mother's mannerisms, "You need some fringe, it would really frame your face beautifully."

Ted laughed, "I remember when you went to the salon and cut shaggy bangs..."

"She hated them," They said in unison.

"Brooklyn dear I meant a side swept bang, now you look like one of those sad terriers." Brooke shook her head, "It took months to grow out and there are only so many ways you can pin them back."

"I'm sorry." Ted frowned, "I should have protected you more. She has always been critical of you and everything you do."

"Don't do this daddy." Brooke said sternly, "Mom is going to wake up and I'm sure the first thing she says is going to be about something I'm doing incorrectly. Don't take that away from her now."

* * *

Brooke woke up slumped in her chair when she heard the door to her mother's room open, she opened one eye and saw a nurse wearing scrubs and a face mask. She would know those eyes and that strawberry blonde hair anywhere, "Hey Linds I thought I was supposed to call you when she died," Brooke yawned, "Or did I hear you wrong?"

Lindsey took off the face mask and smiled, "Brookey you're just too smart." She walked over to her mother's side and grabbed her hand, "Mommy it's Lindsey, can you hear me?"

While Lindsey was distracted Brooke hit send on her phone, "So since you're here I've been dying to ask you one question."

"Why did I do it right?" Lindsey rolled her eyes, "You're too predictable Brooklyn."

"Oh really," Brooke folded her arms across her chest, "Well... Out with it then."

Lindsey shrugged and continued to stroke their mother's hand, "There isn't much to tell, Lucas and I were miserable exactly ten seconds after we said I do. We would talk about divorce so often I wondered why we even kept up the charade, then we would some insanely wild night in the sack and go about our business the next day. When Chris got in touch it was the push I needed to end my marriage once and for all."

"Makes sense, but why go through all the trouble of framing Lucas for murder?" Brooke wondered.

Lindsey huffed, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to be your sister. You're a natural at everything, you're smart, you're beautiful and Lucas has always loved you. Christ I practically had to TELL him I was pregnant just to get him to marry me." Lindsey pushed a few strands of hair out of her face, "You're sleeping together so I'm sure he's told you this, but a week before our wedding he was having some kind of dream and he kept moaning your name. I mean the nerve, I could have had any guy I wanted..."

Brooke scoffed, "Please you wanted Lucas because you knew I had feelings for him. You've always been that way, I play too much with the Barbie Corvette it gets thrown in the pool, I kissed a boy before you did then you go and make your moves on him and sleep with him. So don't sit here and say you could have been with whomever you wanted because the only thing that was important to you was hurting me."

Lindsey laughed, "And you call me Narcissa. You are not the gawd damned sun Brooke, the world does not revolve around you. I liked Lucas in the beginning honestly I did, but when he started to notice you more I got jealous. And every time we were on a break he would fawn all over you again, it was insulting."

"You're dancing around the issue Linds," Brooke hissed, "Why did you frame Lucas for murder?"

'To punish you both." She spit out, "You two have been seeing each other behind my back for God only knows how long, I knew the second I filed for divorce and went to live my life with Chris you two would be more open about your relationship and I couldn't stand it."

Brooke shook her head, "Jesus Linds I told you a dozen times nothing happened with Lucas. I liked him sure, but I never lied about that. I can't believe you would jeopardize your freedom just to be mean to me."

Lindsey's eyes widened and she dropped Victoria's hand, "What did you do Brookey?"

"Nothing," Brooke answered.

"Did mom even really try to kill herself?" Lindsey asked.

"Yes, she's in a coma right in front of you," Brooke laughed an uncomfortable laugh, "There's no way in hell mom would have gone along with setting you up. She has been trying to convince dad for weeks that this was somehow my fault."

At Brooke's words, Lindsey let out a loud belly laugh, "It was always your fault. Mom and dad were happy and then you came along and screwed it all up."

"What are you talking about?" Brooke questioned.

Lindsey sat down in the chair next to Victoria's bed, "The apple never falls far from the tree Brookey. How about I educate you a little, dad was traveling a lot for business after I was born and mom sought the comfort of another man. Ted isn't your father, some guy named Flip is."

Before Brooke could speak her father came inside, he gasped, "Lindsey."

"Hi dad," Lindsey grinned, "Miss me?"

* * *

It had been an hour since Lindsey was arrested, Brooke was numb to Lindsey's cutting words, when Ted Davis returned to Victoria's room and she knew she had to ask him for the truth. "Daddy."

He sat down next to Victoria and kissed her hand, "Yes princess."

"Lindsey said something and I needed clarification." Brooke began to fidget in her chair, "Can we talk later?"

"No need to wait angel, what's on your mind?"

"Lindsey said you weren't my father, I was the product of some sort of affair." Brooke took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting patiently for her father to speak.

Ted sighed heavily, "Brooke I was there with your mother for every doctors appointment, I was there the night you were born, I witnessed all of your major milestones." He paused, "Dance recitals, cheer competitions, volleyball tournaments and everything in between. I am your father."

"Then why woul-"

Ted put up his hand to silence her before she started to ramble, "You're biological father is Skip Marshall. He and your mother had a brief affair and you were the product of that affair. When your mother old me she was pregnant again, the first thing she told me was that it was impossible for me to have been your father." Ted wiped at a few random tears, "I asked her if she wanted a divorce, she assured me she wanted to make our marriage work and I vowed to love you as much as I loved Lindsey." Ted stood up and walked around the bed, "You were MY daughter Brooklyn the moment I saw you."

Brooke rubbed her tears with the sleeve of her sweater, "How did Lindsey find out?"

"Skip came to the house when you two were kids." Ted shook his head, "He had sobered up and demanded to see you. We refused, you had gone next door to play with the Scott boys and Lindsey had stayed behind. She heard Skip's outburst and it was like a light bulb had gone off. Your mother and I immediately noticed a difference in your sister, she began to get violent and whenever I would take you out for some daddy daughter time she would terrorize your mother. She started seeing a therapist and for a while it seemed to be helping. Boy were we wrong, she stopped breaking your toys and began inflicting pain on you in other ways. Friends, boyfriends... Lucas."

"Daddy, how could you do this to me?" Brooke whined, "No wonder Lindsey has resented me since I was six."

"I wanted to tell you Brooke, you have to believe me when I say that." Ted winced, "Your mother didn't think it would be a good idea."

"He only tried to contact me that one time?" Brooke asked with a sniffle.

Ted dropped his head, "Yes. A year after his impromptu visit Skip died of a drug overdose."

Brooke heard a loud ringing in her ear, she felt like she was having a heart attack, "So he died before he ever got to meet me?" Ted nodded, "And my only sister hates me because you treated me like a daughter when she thought you shouldn't have. Mom's affair set off a series of events that cannot be undone." As if by some cruel twist of fate Victoria began to stir.

"Princess I think your mother is waking up." Ted said.

Brooke got up from her chair, picked up her purse and headed for the door, "Great, I'm going home."

"Brooklyn your mother would want to see you," Ted sighed, "Please stay."

Brooke rubbed her tear stained cheeks, "I have spent my entire life feeling less than and I never knew why. I know now, it was because my entire family lied to me. My mother hated me because I was the bastard that reminded her of an indiscretion, my sister resented me because i her eyes I ruined her life and the man I thought was my father only loved me to overcompensate. Please don't contact me, I can't do any of this right now."

* * *

After recounting the entire ordeal to Lucas all Brooke wanted to do was cry. Brooke's head was in Lucas's lap and he was running his hands through her hair, "I know you want to blame yourself for everything that has happened but pretty girl none of this is your fault."

"How can you say that?" Brooke whined, "You spent eighteen months of your life in prison because of me." All Brooke could think about was the pink Barbie Corvette that she got for her seventh birthday, three days later it was at the bottom of their pool and Brooke had gotten lectured about being responsible for her belongings.

"I spent eighteen months in prison because of Lindsey." Lucas argued, "It doesn't matter if Ted is your father, or some guy named Skip or you were adopted. Lindsey is a sociopath and that isn't your fault."

"I can't believe my dad lied to me all this time." Brooke pouted. "I mean I expected from my mother, she never seems to be telling me the truth, but my dad. He's special." Brooke felt fresh tears well up in her eyes, "Do I have to start calling him Ted now?"

"Does finding out that you don't share DNA with the man change the fact that he was there for you since birth?" Lucas laughed, "Ted is your father pretty girl. Do yourself a favor and get over this quickly, he's going to need you in the coming months."

"If he stays with my mother was he NEEDS is a Cat Scan," Brooke sat up, "Did you hear anything about Lindsey?"

"Jimmy called and said she's in holding, he expects charges to be filed in the next 48 hours. Since she has a daughter in Brazil, Jimmy expects her to take a plea deal."

"How are you with all of this? I've been yapping since I got here, are you alright?" Brooke asked.

Lucas shrugged, "It's surreal, I had to grieve over her death too. I was sad she was gone, that passed as soon as I was arrested, but there were days I thought about her. Thought about what her last thoughts were, was she afraid. Then it all turned out to be a lie and I was mad all over again. I felt used, I still do. But mostly now I'm just angry, angry that she couldn't just be normal. Time is a precious thing, you only get so much of it before you die, I can't understand why Lindsey would want to spend her life being so venomous. It's such a waste."

After a few minutes of silence Brooke laughed, "I need a vacation after all of this."

"You're telling me." Lucas kissed her temple, "If you could go anywhere tomorrow where would it be?"

"That's easy. I would go on a tour of Italy, I've always wanted to go there." Brooke smiled, "See Venice before it sinks."

"It was beautiful when I was there..."

"For your honeymoon," Brooke interjected, "Yeah I know, why do you think Lindsey picked it."

They both couldn't help but laugh at how clear everything seemed at that moment, "So no Italy then," Lucas said, "What about Ireland?"

"No," Brooke paused to think for a minute, "I know. Let's buy one of those kitschy books about the weird sites to see in every state and road trip for a while."

"To see all the states and really enjoy them, it would have to be an extended trip, a year at least, maybe two." Lucas could see it now, him and Brooke cuddled up under the stars over looking the Grand Canyon, it was romantic.

"If we gave ourselves a few months to plan that could probably be arranged, I have some stock I could cash in," Brooke said, "I would love to buy an Airstream, it's very _The Long Long Trailer._ "

"That's the movie with Lucy and Desi right?" Lucas asked, "I don't want you to cash in your stocks, my assets are now mine again, all you have to do is take a leave of absence from work and we can go."

"It isn't that simple Lucas, we can't just run away." Brooke scolded. "We can't go anywhere for at least a few months, you need to get divorced, we need to be available to be witnesses if necessary, my parents, your parents, I could go on and on."

"Why was my divorce the first thing you mentioned?" Lucas asked, "Would you like me to be able to remarry if I desire to?"

"No," Brooke's cheeks flushed, "I know it's important to you. That's all."

"Is that all?" Lucas grinned, "It isn't because you can picture us married some day?"

"Some days it's really obvious that you and Nathan are brothers." Brooke said as she stood up.

Lucas reached for her wrist, "Yeah, does he want to marry you too?"

Brooke froze, "What did you just say?"

"It doesn't need to be repeated, all you need to know is that I want to marry you someday Brooke Davis." Lucas pulled her down into his lap, "I can't do that if I'm still married to Lindsey."

"You don't think this is all moving very fast broody?" Brooke said, squirming away from him.

"We've been friends most of our lives, how much time do you need?" Lucas groaned when she was out of his arms, "I'm not saying I want to propose to you tomorrow, but I want to know that I can ask you and be able to follow through on my proposal anytime I want."

"So we're going to road trip around the country. See all the sites?" Brooke asked before sitting down on Lucas's lap.

Lucas wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her down onto him, "I think that sounds like an adventure, an adventure I don't want to take with anyone else."

Brooke kissed his lips tenderly, then pulled back so only their noses were touching, "I love you Lucas. I keep pinching myself to make sure this isn't a dream, if it is please promise me that you'll never wake me up."

Lucas laughed and pulled up the sleeve covering his left arm, Brooke noticed the deep blue bruise, "I've been pinching myself too." Brooke buried her head in Lucas's next and they both giggled in excitement at the journey to come.

* * *

So what do you think? I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I enjoyed writing it... So the epilogue is next and it will be a year into the future, it will offer a peak into the life Lucas and Brooke have made with each other on the road. If there is a particular place you want me to mention them traveling to, send me a PM or put it in the review. I will incorporate ALL suggestions.

Thanks so much for reading. So tell me your thoughts, you know what to do, press that button and review, review, review.

Krystal


	11. Epilogue

_Epilogue:_

 ***Eighteen Months Later***

Brooke walked up the steps to her parent's house, "Here goes nothing," she said aloud before knocking on the door.

"Pippa," Keith said when he opened the door, "I was just over checking on your mother." He pulled her in for a hug, "Is my son with you?"

Brooke pulled back, "No he went to your house to see you and Karen." Brooke removed her jacket and put it on the hook by the front door.

"And how is my granddaughter doing?" Keith asked with a raised eyebrow.

Brooke pointed at him, "You thought you were going to catch me up didn't you?" Brooke rubbed her small swollen abdomen, "We aren't telling anyone if it's a boy or a girl. You just have to wait like everyone else."

"Fine," Keith huffed, "I'm heading home. Will we be seeing you later?"

"Yes," Brooke smiled. She shut the door behind him and headed inside, "Daddy?" She called out.

"In the living room princess." Ted Davis called back to her.

She entered the living room, "Hi daddy." She bent down and kissed her father on the cheek, they had had a rough couple of months after Lindsey revealed the truth behind Brooke's paternity. Brooke finally realized that it didn't matter if Ted Davis was her biological father, he was still her daddy. She turned her attention to the woman sitting on the chaise lounge, "Hi mother."

"Brooklyn," Victoria smiled, "You're looking lovely today." Victoria Davis made a full recovery after her suicide attempt, at the behest of the court appointed psychiatrist the Davis family sought counseling after the dust settled. The person helped most by weekly therapy session was the family's matriarch. She endeavored to be better to her youngest daughter and their relationship flourished after Lindsey's sentencing.

"We skyped with Lindsey yesterday." Ted said, "Chris was finally able to get clearance to visit your sister. So him and Penny are coming up at the end of the month right before Lindsey is released." Lindsey had taken a plea deal that included three years of prison time to be served at a minimum security women's facility two hours from home. She was getting out in four weeks because of good behavior and prison overcrowding. Something changed for Lindsey while she was incarcerated, she apologized to everyone for the hell she put them through and planned to stay in contact after she returned to Brazil. She and Lucas divorced, she even seemed genuinely excited about Brooke and Lucas's baby news. She was looking forward to becoming Aunt Lindsey. Brooke had been apprehensive at first, but she was determined to forgive her sister and move forward.

"Oh yeah," Brooke said before taking a seat next to her mother. "How was your doctor's appointment today?"

"Fine," Victoria smiled, "My doctor thinks I have too much stress on my plate, I told him my daughter is pregnant and refusing to tell me the gender."

"We aren't saying the gender." Brooke stuck her tongue out, "Would you like to know our name ideas?" Victoria and Ted nodded for Brooke to continue, "We like Theodore, Zachary, Sebastian and Isiah for a boy and for a girl we like Margo, Juliette, Charlotte and Virginia."

"Beautiful princess." Ted answered, flashing his signature grin. "Where is Lucas today?"

"He's next door." Brooke answered, "I didn't want to bother you to long, I know Wednesday's are your long day."

"He just doesn't want to come over him because I lectured him the last time he was here." Victoria paused, "I didn't mean to overstep but don't you think you should be married before the baby comes?"

Brooke shrugged, "We'll get there someday. We aren't in a hurry mom. We want to enjoy each other for a while, that's why we're finally going on that trip we talked about."

"That's insane Brooklyn," Victoria scoffed, "Babies thrive when there is structure. How is my grand baby going to get that in the back of an RV?"

Brooke looked down at her watch, "Oh look at the time, I have to go. We're having dinner with Nathan, Haley and Jamie."

* * *

Brooke walked over to the Scott's house and smiled at the person waiting for her on the stoop, "Hey stranger."

"How were the Davis's today?" Lucas asked before pulling her in for a kiss.

Brooke laughed, "The same... What's the baby's gender, when you gonna get married, you can't raise the baby in an RV... Blah, blah, blah." Brooke lingered in the hug a moment, "Why can't we tell them again?"

"We've been over this pretty girl. When we found out that baby Scott was a boy you made me swear that I wouldn't let you tell any of our family. You WANTED to keep it a secret." Lucas grinned, "Now you have to live with that choice."

Brooke stomped her foot and put out her bottom lip, "I have changed my mind. Let's just tell them... Please broody."

Lucas kissed Brooke's nose, "Fine, but on one condition."

"Nope, nevermind." Brooke said as she headed for the door.

Lucas hurried to catch up to her," You didn't hear my condition yet."

"Please I know what the condition is, it's the same thing you've been asking for months now." Brooke put her hand on the doorknob.

Lucas spun her into his arms, "Why can't we just get married again?"

Brooke rolled her eyes, "I told you, I don't want to get married in the same year you divorced my sister. This little munchkin came sooner than we had anticipated. I know our parents are being old fashioned but I don't want to get married now just because I'm pregnant."

"It isn't like that and you know it." Lucas scoffed, "I've been asking you to be mine forever for at least the last year."

Brooke giggled at his words, "Oh my gosh half of that time shouldn't even count, you were still married to my sister." Brooke whisphered.

"Details, details." Lucas grinned again. He kissed her soft supple lips, "Why won't you just say yes?"

"Fine," Brooke whined, "Yes, yes, yes."

Lucas rolled his eyes in an exaggerating manner, "Doesn't count, this wasn't special."

Brooke began to laugh, the front door opened, "Are you going to stay out here all night or do you plan on coming inside for dinner?" Keith said in a burly tone, Lucas and Brooke headed inside.

"Sorry dad," Lucas apologized.

"Son," Keith nodded his head.

Brooke giggled uncomfortably, "Sorry Keith."

"It's no trouble Pippa, we all know Lucas is a bad influence." Keith wrapped his arms around both their shoulders, "So any chance you're going to tell me what my grand baby is going to be, or am I going to have to torture it out of you."

* * *

"Boy oh BOY am I starving." Lucas said while rubbing his hands together, he let out a maniacal laugh for effect.

"Lucas you promised you were going to stop doing that," Brooke said.

Lucas laughed at the look on her face, "Please GIRLfriend you don't need to worry about me, I'm just having a bit of fun with my family."

Nathan pushed his chair back from the table, "Do I honestly have to listen to this shit for another three months? Brooke you should just tell us what it is, he's relentless."

Haley dished herself some asparagus, "Don't cave Brooke, he'll stop soon enough."

"GIRL you would think that way wouldn't you?" Lucas laughed.

"Lucas Eugene Scott," Karen scolded, "That's enough."

Lucas put his hands up, "No need to go BOY-listic ma."

Brooke put down her napkin, "That's enough," She hissed, "We're having a boy everyone. We like Theodore, Isaiah, Zachary and Sebastian for names. The cats out of the bag, now we can enjoy our meal. Hales pass the potatoes please, I'm starving."

Karen brought her hand to her mouth, "Oh my goodness, another grandson." She squeezed Keith's hand, "What are we going to do with another grandson to love?"

"Be happy that these two didn't make a girl." Keith smiled, "Or Lucas would really have to murder someone." The room grew silent, Keith looked to Karen and saw the shocked look on her face, "What too soon?"

The entire table erupted in laughter, "That's messed up, I was exonerated," Lucas said with a pout.

Brooke gazed into the eyes of the people in the room, her family. She rubbed her stomach where the gentle kicks had begun a few moments ago. She raised her glass of cranberry juice, "A toast to our family, I wouldn't trade any of you."

"To family." Everyone said together.

Lucas leaned over and kissed Brooke's cheek, "To our new journey pretty girl."

Brooke cupped his cheeks with her tiny hands, and kissed his lips tenderly "To us."

 ***THE END***

* * *

So that's a wrap folks... Hope you all liked the conclusion of Ghosts That We Knew... This story was so much fun to write... Thank you to everyone that reviewed, you guys rock... If you are interested in my other stories please check them out... I'm currently finishing up New York State of Mind and Jane Says... Then I'll turn my attention to Thinking of You and Take Me To Church... Plus I have a couple ideas that I'm kicking around at the moment... So stay tuned... :)

Thanks again!

Krystal


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